Halo: Project Omega
by Xbamex
Summary: With the result of Operation Wildfire being a complete failure, the UNSC now faces a new threat. To combat the new threat, the UNSC create Project Omega, a special division of Spartans that are trained to combat the threat that could very well bring the UNSC and all her colonies to their knees. **Sequel to Halo: Operation Wildfire. Rated T for Violence and Profanity**
1. Omega Initiate

**Location: Uncharted Planet**

 **Event: Operation Wildfire**

 **Date: March 8th, 2558, 2247 hours**

"Time to go! We need to get out of here, now!" Danny yelled out to Eric. Eric threw his rifle after it went dry and started to run towards the LZ.

With the Infinity lost, along with the complete and utter confusion as to what was happening on this uncharted planet, the only rational thing to do was to retreat. Jul 'Mdama was the very least of their worries. The Storm Covenant were a lost cause in this mess. The main major threats here were the Xenomorphs, the Yautja, and the Insurrectionist. The fact that the Insurrectionist decided to make appearance in this shit storm was beyond Eric's comprehension.

Eric drew his magnum and picked off a few innies, giving some covering fire to the retreating squad of marines and what was left of Fireteam Crimson. Danny continued hulling Dylan's unconscious body over his shoulder with a magnum in his other. Eric noticed that the timer on his HUD was rapidly approaching to an end.

"Crimson, we are running out of time! Captain is initiating slipspace sequence in three minutes! Get your ass to the pelican now or we are leaving you!"

"Roger that," he yelled over the coms network. He picked up his pace. Danny was slowing down for Eric.

"We are nearly there!" Danny cried out. They were only twenty yards away from the pelican. The end of the pelican opened up and marines piled out to give the fleeing Spartans some cover.

Eric got into the pelican first and turned around. Suddenly, Danny recoiled towards the pelican and dropped to the floor. Dylan flew into the pelican and rolled just under the first aid station. Eric couldn't believe his eyes. Both of his teammates were down.

"No!" He cried out as he pulled Danny on board. "No no no no, don't do this to me."

"Spartan, are you all aboard?" The pilot asked.

Eric put a finger to his ear. "Yes! Get your marines in here, time to go now. Both my Spartans are down!"

"Roger that, Spartan," the pilot replied. The marines came piling into the pelican and the drop ship departed off for evacuation.

Eric flipped Danny over to his back and took his helmet off. Danny was spitting blood out of his mouth and his hands were shaking. Eric looked at the wound. There was a giant hole in the center of his chest. Sniper round. Heavy armor piercing. Eric threw his helmet off and grasped Danny's hand.

"Stay with me Danny, we are almost there. We will get you to the H station asap, just stay with me. Keep your eyes on me," he said pointing at his eyes.

Danny spit some blood, but formed a slight smirk. "All th-those lil' fuckin' b-bugs n' Aliens, an' I-I'm shot by a f-fuckin' man. Fuckin ironic." He laughed and spat out more blood.

"Danny focus on me. That's a direct order!"

Danny shook his head. "N-nah, th-this is it." His whole body was shaking and his eyelids were half closed. He gasped for more air and his hands started to loosen their grip. "Eric, stretch out m-my legs f-flat."

Eric looked down and noticed that they already were stretched out. He paused and didn't know what else to say. "They are, Danny."

Danny gave an amused huff and attempted to look down. "Well, would you l-look at th-that."

"Danny, keep your eyes on me, now, dammit!" Eric ordered the Spartan.

"It's okay, man," Danny shakenly said. "It's a-ight." He stared into Eric's eyes and suddenly squeezed onto Eric's hand. "You ear-earned this," he whispered while nodding. Eric nodded back but couldn't find the words to say. "Earn this," he whispered once more. Danny's eyes started to dull out and his hand lost all of his grip. Danny's head fell back into Eric's lap, lifeless.

Eric took a moment to realize what just happened. And it was a long moment. He got to his feet with his helmet in his hand and glanced at the marines around him and at Dylan's motionless body. All he could feel was panic and rage. The rage especially. It was building at an exponential rate. He couldn't contain it any longer.

"Fuck!" He roared and chucked his helmet at the end of the pelican door. He took a deep breath and brought his hands to his head. He sat down and kept his mouth shut.

The marines pretty much kept their distance from the Spartan, but a few of them wanted to reassure him, somehow. One of the marines looked down at the other Spartan that was already unconscious under the first aid station. He crouched down and turned him over. He flinched at the sight before him. The Spartan's visor section exploded with blood all over it. The sight, in itself, was incomprehensible. The Spartan was shot in the head. The marine then looked back at the other fallen Spartan and started to think forensically.

The bullet killed both of the Spartans in one shot. Entering the standing Spartan's back, then exits the front just next to his heart, then immediately entering the unconscious Spartan's head. It was a perfect shot. True marksmanship. He had to report this to his commanding officer. These innies were no regular innies. Something huge was going on here.

…

 **9 months later: January 4th, 2559, 1930 Hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

Eric stood in front of the window in his "office" as he saw it which allowed him to oversee the entire outpost. A month ago, FLEETCOM gave him a debriefing on all of the results of Operation Wildfire and the current situation they were dealing with. The Insurrectionist were a much greater threat than what they use to be. They entered that battle on the uncharted planet with their best soldiers to extract many Xenomorph specimens as well as capture multiple Yautja. Intelligence speculated that there was a spy on board Infinity who gave away the Infinity location on the uncharted planet and notified the rogue militant cult on the current situation.

Apparently, the leader of whatever Insurrectionist Division thought it was necessary to make an appearance and capture many of the aliens for testing. The name of the Insurrectionist Division was called the Meta Division. The only intelligence they knew about this leader of the Division was his code name: Blackwater. Blackwater was in charge of this Meta Division which was to further their weapons research who would vie to ultimately bring the UNSC to their knees.

In retaliation, the UNSC developed a new Program within the Spartan IV Program called Project Omega. Project Omega was designed to create a special division of Spartan soldiers that would specialize in combatting Xenomorphs and Yautja, as well as take out the Meta Division and ultimately its leader, Blackwater. FLEETCOM was initially going to offer the commanding position of Omega Division to Spartan Sarah Palmer, however she declined the offer because she believed that she was too well known as a UNSC personnel and also admitted to be unfit for the secrecy of this division. She made a request that the leader of the project would be a relatively unknown, but experienced soldier of the UNSC who also has firsthand experience with the Xenomorphs and the Yautja. FLEETCOM pondered the suggestion for a while but they ultimately decided to agree to her request, then proceeded to place Spartan Eric G-015 in charge of the project. To somewhat protect his identity, FLEETCOM redacted his service tag and assigned him a last name, Spartan Eric Bame. Just like Commander Palmer, Eric was to report to Thomas Lasky on the progress of Project Omega. They then transferred many other experienced personnel into Omega Division to assist Spartan Bame.

These personnel consisted of Mario Snow, David Wolf, and Ivan Morales. These notable members were then placed into the Spartan IV Program and underwent physical augmentations. As expected, they all survived through the physical augmentations. From there, Mario Snow and David Wolf were in charge of recruiting many soldiers into Omega Division. Ivan Morales was in charge of obtaining all of the state of the art equipment that the Division was going to be supplied with. One of which was new Spartan armor.

Mario Snow and David Wolf were both ex-ODST that were stationed on Reach when the Covenant attacked. They were both part of the same unit so they have been close teammates for a long time. During the Battle of Reach, they both managed to lead many civilians to safety during the siege of New Alexandria. Afterwards, they managed to escape the civilian transport to Earth. Then when the Battle of Earth took place, they were in deployed in the Second Battle of New Mombasa where they assisted in taking down Covenant aircraft along with assisting the Sangheili in cleansing the Flood from Earth. After the Great War ended, they were honorary discharged from the ODST Branch and were assigned to be ambassadors for humanity and the Sangheili due to their previous relationship during the Battle of Earth. Then after Wildfire, they were assigned to high positions in Project Omega.

Ivan Morales was a veteran Marine officer that served way before the Battle of Reach took place. He was a young boy when the Battle of Harvest took place and swore to fight for humanity after the destruction of his home planet. After the Great War ended, he joined the Spartan IV Program and was present during the First Battle of Requiem. He assisted The Master Chief in retaking back the Infinity shortly after it crash landed. Unfortunately, he was wounded during the mission and was on leave of absence due to his health. After he regained his health, he volunteered to join the Spartan-IV program and train the new Spartans on Earth. After another physical evaluation, he was cleared to join Project Omega.

Omega Division was given their own ship and their own smart AI. The ship was a Vindication-Class Battleship named _The Brigadier_. The smart AI was named Magnus. Eric found the AI very annoying at times but knew his purpose. Magnus was a sarcastic AI, even more so than Roland. Much more actually. His personally matched to a fascist and he wasn't afraid to hide it, although it was obvious that the AI was doing it for the laughs. To sugar coat it, he modeled his avatar after a WWII German Armored Division soldier. Eric wondered why FLEETCOM even allowed him to have this personality, but for whatever reason, they didn't think it would be much of a problem.

Tomorrow was the first day of training for the new recruits and Eric took a moment to reflect on how far he has come. Boot camp on Reach, Battle of Reach, Battle of Earth, Second Battle of Requiem, and Operation Wildfire. There was just too much to reflect on. However, there was one thing he reflected on more than anything else and that was what Danny told him before he died.

 _Earn this._

He pondered on that statement since Danny has said it to him. It was one of the main reasons why he accepted his position in Project Omega. He wanted to honor Danny's plea. He reflected back to that moment several months ago in the frigate's bay where he promised himself and to his fallen teammates that he will bring the Meta Division to justice.

Suddenly, Eric's trance was interrupted when he heard a knock on his door. He shook his head and turned around. "Come in," he said. Ivan Morales entered Eric's office and stood at attention. "At ease, Ivan."

"Yes, Commander," he eased his stance and put his hands behind his back. "The armor shipment finally reached the hanger. Your new set is ready if you want to try it on, Sir."

Eric was curious as to how this new armor was more efficient than the already state of the art armor he's had since the Second Battle of Requiem. "Alright, let's go see what they gave us."

Eric and Ivan both started walking to the hanger bay. "So what do these new armor sets have that the other ones don't?"

Ivan brought up his data pad and opened up a file consisting of all the new information. "Well, where to start," he laughed. He scrolled around to the basic aspects first. "So, the energy shields are stronger than the other models. They are designed to withstand an SRS Sniper Rifle round. Only one round of course, the second will compromise the shield's integrity." He scrolled down a bit. "The HUD system was updated to assist the Spartan with his/her other new abilities. One of these new abilities is called Thrust. It's basically a more efficient way to evade. It's much more efficient than the prototype armor ability that we are more familiar with. This Thrust ability is fully integrated into each of these armor sets." He scrolled down again. "This one is more interesting. It's called the Ground-Pound."

"Ground-Pound?" Eric asked.

Ivan nodded. "It's exactly how you heard it. A Spartan in the air can initiate Ground-Pound that would launch them down at the ground with a tremendous amount of force. The result is, well, as you would expect. The force from this ability would damage a warthog easy. I would imagine that it would destroy a Ghost, easy."

Eric nodded. "Interesting. Continue."

Ivan scrolled a little lower on his data pad. "There was another update on the HUD that allowed Magnus to broadcast what any Spartan in Omega Division was seeing. It was more or less an update that encrypted the connection. Magnus will be able to broadcast the feed into whatever visual device in your possession."

"Which basically invades all of your Spartans' privacy. Even when they are jerking off," Magnus suddenly commented through Ivan's data pad. Eric rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"Alright, too far, Magnus," Ivan said in reply flatly.

Magnus then popped out a hologram out of the data pad of his avatar, showing his black primitive Nazi German outfit. "Nah, I'm serious. Imagine being able to see everyone in the entire division jerk off. It's disgusting," the AI said with a disgusted impression. "You humans are fucking weird with your urges."

"Watch your language around the Commander, Magnus," Ivan ordered the AI sternly. Eric only looked back at the AI.

Magnus opened up his arms and pointed at Eric. "What's he going to do? Purge me from the system?" He laughed. "Yeah, without me, Project Omega wouldn't be able to operate. You boys need me."

"You done yet, Magnus?" Eric finally said calmly.

Magnus turned his gaze at the Spartan Commander and laughed. "Calm down, I was only joking around." Eric gave a slight smirk and shook his head. Ivan glared at the AI.

"Stop being so stiff," he said with a smirk. There was a slight pause between the three. Finally, Magnus spoke up. "So do you want me to say the rest of the new armor aspects?"

"Go ahead, Magnus," Eric replied. They reached the elevator that went to the hanger.

"Well, the hovering ability was upgraded a little bit. The Spartan will be able to command his armor neurology to hover in air for about five seconds until they need to recharge. The recharge time is practically instant. That's pretty good. Let's see what else is more notable," he commented with a hand rubbing his chin. "Basically, the only armor variant that's in this manifest are modified variants of the Recruit design. R.I.P. That armor is ugly."

Both Spartans shook their heads. Eric spoke up. "Doesn't matter if the Flood have a better fashion design than this armor, they'll do just fine."

"To be fair, these new armor abilities will be pretty cool to see in action," the AI said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Finally, the elevator stopped and the doors opened up to the hanger. There were many containers stacked up next to a few Wasps. One of the small containers were opened on the ground and one of the shipment workers was working on his data pad.

"Ah, I failed to mention this bit, Commander," Magnus said with a smirk. Eric just glanced at the AI and continued walking towards the opened container. "This particular container has the armors for the officers and up, including yours."

A faint feeling of curiosity formed up in Eric's stomach. He still was very sentimental with his old Noble armor set he was issued while he was in Fireteam Crimson, but even so it was hard for him to say goodbye to his old Spartan-III armor he had many years ago even though it was practically primitive compared to the earlier versions of Spartan IV armor. Eric brought his hand to his chin. "Mind if I see it now, Magnus?"

"I guess, if you really want to," he replied. He suddenly disappeared from Ivan's data pad and then immediately appeared in the shipment worker's data pad, startling him. "Hey worker. Mind if you hull out that first armor box in that container? Commander Bame wants to see his new self."

The worker sheepishly nodded and got into the forklift next to the container. He drove in there and pulled out the first metallic crate containing the Commander's new set of armor. He drove next to the Spartans and dropped the crate carefully, then drove away.

Eric walked up to the crate and placed his hand on top of it. Even the crate was upgraded to protect the armor. It required a certain passcode to open. "Magnus, open it up."

The crate suddenly began to open up on its own very slowly. In the crate, he saw his new set of armor. It was very much different than what Eric was expecting. It was white with a little bit of a darker shade of yellow in other areas. It still maintained that sharp look that the Pathfinder helmet had, but this armor was much more interesting. It had a U-shaped symbol on its forehead and thin cyan colored slit visor over the eyes. It was much more detailed than the HAZOP armor and it reminded him of design that could have been based on an old Japanese architecture.

"Yeah, pretty cool, ain't it?" Magnus commented, looking at the armor from Ivan's data pad. He looked up at the Commander. "It's the new Shinobi variant. This particular one is the Shinobi Heartless armor set. It's pretty high tech."

"Wow, I'm impressed," Eric simply said.

"Good, I'm glad you liked it. 'Cause otherwise you'd be stuck with an armor set that you absolutely hate," Magnus joked. "Anyways, you'll be able to try it on tomorrow when the new recruits arrive."

Eric nodded. "Sounds good."

 **Date: January 5th, 2559, 0811 hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

The leaders of Omega Division gathered around the landing strip for the new recruits to arrive. Eric stood silently in his new Shinobi Heartless armor set. The other three Spartans also wore their new armor sets. They were all the same color which was dark grey as their primary and Cerulean-blue as a secondary. Ivan was wearing his new Deadeye armor set. Mario was wearing a brand new Enforcer variant armor set. Lastly, Dave was wearing a new Argonaut variant armor set. The three Spartans stood behind Eric patiently. The recruits were going to arrive in a few more minutes.

Ivan was holding the same data pad from the previous day. Suddenly, Magnus's avatar popped out of the data pad, looking at Dave. "Y'know, this little formation you guys have here would look so much better if your armor didn't looked like shit," the AI commented directed to Dave.

Dave turned his head towards the AI. "You know Magnus, this little formation here would look so much better if you didn't look like a fucking Nazi," he retorted with a grin. Both Ivan and Mario laughed at the burn. Eric didn't so much as to turn head, he just stood there patiently waiting for the transports to arrive.

"Nah, you're wrong there kiddo. I am the person here that's making you guys look awesome. Your armor is making me want to throw some cyanide in an oven of Jews," the AI replied. That comment gave him three angry glares from the three Spartans. Eric just shook his head.

"Magnus, it's funny how you see yourself as a person," Dave said with a smirk.

"Shut your traps, you idiots. The transport is here," Mario interrupted.

The other Spartans looked up and saw five pelicans arriving the outpost. Ivan and Dave started walking towards the landing zones. The five pelicans slowly landed on the landing zones and the rear entrances started to open up. Eric watched as Ivan and Dave yelled into the pelicans to get the recruits out. They were all in their dark Spartan under-armor layer outfits and were holding a large backpack of personal belongings. The only skin that was showing were their faces. Eric noticed that demographics behind these recruits was very diverse. Younger faces, older faces, different colored skin and hair. He also noticed that there was a young female among them. Eric rolled his eyes at the thought of the other recruits harassing here.

Dave pointed his hand at the recruits. "Drop your backpacks. You'll get them back after the commander makes a statement." The new recruits all dropped their backpacks. "Alright, now get into formation before the commander," he ordered them while pointing in a general area before Eric. The new recruits all obeyed Dave's command and quickly got into a five by five formation in front of Eric. They all stood at attention.

Eric looked back at Mario and shrugged. He then took a step towards the new recruits and removed his helmet, holding it under his left arm. He took one good look at all new recruits with a serious expression on his face. He finally decided to break the ice. "At ease, Spartans." The new recruits all eased their formation and looked at Eric. "Now, listen up. You were all recruited into a special division of Spartans called Project Omega. Is that right?"

"Yes sir," all the new recruits replied.

"Good. I am the commander of Project Omega, Eric Bame. I would like to ask if you kept the formalities simple with me." After hearing about how former Captain Del Rio treated his personnel while he was the captain of the Infinity and how much he demanded authority rather than commanding it, Eric wanted to approach his new division in a different way. "A few things about myself: I was formally enlisted into the Spartan-III program a few decades ago. I fought during the Fall of Reach, escaped to the forerunner shield world Onyx, then after rescued by the UNSC Port Stanley, the UNSC offered me a position in the Spartan IV, which I obviously took. As a Spartan IV, I fought in the Second Battle of Requiem, then during Operation Wildfire." He took a deep breath and looked to the ground. "As you all have probably heard, Operation Wildfire was a colossal failure. Two of the major losses in that operation were the UNSC flagship Infinity and over ninety percent of the Spartan personnel. It was a miracle in itself that I was able to escape that planet. Several months after the result of Operation Wildfire, FLEETCOM formed Project Omega and asked me to be in charge of the Spartan Division within the project."

He looked at all the new recruits with a very stern expression and started pacing back in forth in front of them. "Now, listen to me very carefully, because the things I am about to tell you are extremely important. Two new enemy sentient species were discovered during Operation Wildfire. They are much more dangerous than the Covenant Remnant. The first new species are called Xenomorphs. They are a parasitic species much like the Flood, but thankfully, not as threatening as the Flood. They operate much like bees in a hive or like ants in a colony. Ruled by a queen. They are mostly animalistic by nature, however the queen showed to have a much higher intelligence than her drones or warriors. They may just sound like bugs to all of you, but the situation is much more complicated than that." He took a deep breath and continued on.

"The second species are more intelligent than animalistic. They are called the Yautja. A species that is based around honor and hunting. They are a humanoid creature about the same height as a Sangheili, however they are much stronger than an average elite. They prefer hand-to-hand combat rather than an gunfight. They are extremely stealthy hunters and have mastered the art of active camouflage. They are spacefaring and most likely have a couple colonized planets. They are technologically more advanced than us, to a certain degree. Other than that, there is not much known about this species."

Eric stopped pacing in front of the new recruits and looked at them. "Now don't be thinking that this project is based around a bug hunt or a small war with a new species. It's much more than that. At the close of Operation Wildfire, the Insurrectionist showed up to battle, very randomly. It was confirmed that these soldiers were in fact allied with the Insurrectionist. During the battle, the soldiers were much more skilled than the average innie soldier. They were much better equipped with armor and artillery and were very skilled in their combat skills. I would imagine that their combat skills could even best yours, even in your armor." The new recruits glanced around at each other with very confused expressions. "Sounds strange, I know. I was more than surprised when they showed up during Wildfire. Now, ONI Intelligence released proof that these Insurrectionists were a special division of soldiers called the Meta Division, lead by a man that goes by the name Blackwater. From what we know, they are a secret weapons division and saw the Xenomorphs and the Yautja as assets for their research. Intelligence showed that they in fact were on that uncharted planet to capture both species. We have reason to believe that they are attempting to weaponize both species. This could single-handedly be a major threat to all of us."

"Which brings me to all of you. My job, as well as Spartan Snow, Wolf, and Morales, is to train you all to be the best of the best. You will all be the last line of defense of humanity and all our colonies. Our objective is to terminate the Meta Division and all their new 'pets'." He took one glance at all of the new recruits. "Sound good?"

"Yes sir!" They all yelled out.

"Good. Welcome to Omega, Spartans."


	2. Simulations

**Date: January 6th, 2559, 1007 hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

Eric and Mario studied the new recruits as they went through their boot camp exercises. Ivan and Dave organized each of the of the stations the new recruits had to go through, splitting the recruits in two teams, one with thirteen, the other with twelve. Ultimately, both Eric and Mario were determining which of the recruits would be capable enough for leading a Fireteam. They also had to determine a platoon officer. Eric and Mario both came to an agreement that there were to be six fireteams, each consisting of four Spartans. In addition, three fireteams would make up a platoon. The only problem with that is that one of these recruits is going to have to be a platoon officer next to Ivan, who will be taking over the other platoon.

Some of the recruits showed more promise than others for leading a Fireteam. Ultimately, it would be their responsibility to keep their Fireteam alive. Basic training started at 0600 hours and these recruits have had almost no time to rest. Although, so far, they held their own. Which was expected out of any Spartan. Despite seeing that things were going smoothly on the first day, Eric and Mario didn't have any choices of leaders yet, but then again, it was the first day. In a week, the Spartans will be placed in fireteams and undergo certain generated simulations together.

 **Date: January 13th, 2559, 0800 Hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

 **Event: Simulation Exercise with Fireteam Aries**

Spartan Tyler Eilen and the rest of his Fireteam are dispatched to Apex 7 to take control of the island's Spire and to extract valuable Insurrectionist Intelligence from their main data system. Tyler was very nervous with his position in the Fireteam. When Commander Bame placed him in charge of Fireteam Aries, he was taken aback. He was sure that his team member, Oliver Scythe, would surely take the role of Fireteam leader. That was Spartan Snow's first choice, but Commander Bame thought otherwise and placed him in charge. Bame told him the responsibilities of a Fireteam leader. Quite honestly, Tyler doubted his ability to lead and to keep the members of Aries alive. He stressed his concern to Bame, but Bame simply smirked at him and said, "This is only a simulation. I'll know if I made the right choice or not afterwards."

Tyler looked at his teammates. They all wore the same recruit armor. Oliver Scythe wielded a sniper rifle and a silenced SMG. Scythe was a good teammate and had relentless attitude. However, his relentless attitude was his downfall at the same time since he was reckless. He was also very fond of his British origins. James Rodriguez was a younger Spartan. He brought both a silenced battle rifle and magnum. He is a loyal member of the team, but has a tendency to hesitate in pressing situations. Angel Gutierrez was also a younger Spartan. However, he was very straightforward and honest. He has a tendency to say offensive words without realizing it, but all in all, he was a good teammate. He wielded a shotgun and a silenced assault rifle. Lastly, Tyler wielded a silenced DMR and a grenade launcher.

"Spartan Aries, it's is your boy, Magnus," the AI's voice popped up in each of the Spartans' HUDs. Tyler rolled his eyes. The AI already had quite a reputation in the Division. "Your mission is to take control of the Spire at Apex 7 without triggering an alarm system. Recon tells us that there are twenty Insurrectionist soldiers deployed at the Spire, however we have no intelligence on the amount at the outpost. Anyways, we also have intel that there are at least two soldiers with stolen Spartan IV armor. After you take control of the base, you must extract important Insurrectionist intel on the whereabouts on one of their military research facility. However, the system has a failsafe program and the alarm will be triggered the moment you start extracting data from the system. From there, you will retreat through a cave system just below the Spire. At the exit of the cave will be a LZ for evac. Is that understood, Aries?"

Scythe spoke up. "What kind of artillery do they have?"

"Small arms mostly. A few sniper nests, so be careful. No vehicles or sentry turrets."

"Understood."

Magnus glanced around at the Spartans. "Any other questions?"

Tyler nodded. "Yeah, what happens if the alarm system is triggered before we start extracting intel?"

"Oh you boys will be in for a tough op. This intel is priority one material. However, Commander Bame does not want any casualties in the Fireteam. If it becomes too much for you all, we will extract you from the island, or basically just end the simulation. So yeah, don't get caught," the AI said with a smirk. "Anything else?" The Spartans looked around at each other and shook their heads. "Good. We land in fifteen seconds."

"Fifteen seconds?" Tyler asked. The AI disappeared from their HUDs. Tyler glanced around at his team and took a moment to think. Finally, he got to his feet. "Alright, Aries. Let's get this done. You guys ready?"

"Yes, sir," Rodriguez replied. The other two Spartans simply nodded.

Tyler sensed the doubt from Scythe and Gutierrez, which made his heart sink. He had to prove a lot to his team. He turned his head and saw the back of the pelican opening up. It was dark outside and the terrain was tropical. As soon as they got close to the ground, the four Spartans jumped out of the pelican. They cleared the landing zone and watched the pelican fly away into the darkness.

"Alright, let's move to the first outpost," Tyler ordered. The three other Spartans followed their leader. "Make sure your night vision is activated." Rodriguez paused for a moment and activated his night vision. "No thrusting, either."

"Noted," each of the Spartans replied.

Part of the outpost finally came into view and Tyler raised his fist. The four Spartans stopped in their tracks and crouched. Tyler motioned Scythe to move up. "Use that sniper. Let's see what we have in store."

Scythe raised his sniper and glanced through the scope. He only saw one sentry posted on watch. "One innie in sight, no other contacts."

Tyler glanced next to him to see a small cave system that looked like it lead to the outpost. He immediately looked back at Angel and James. "Both of you, move through that cave. It should end up to an entrance to the outpost. Don't engage. Let me know when you are in position to breach the outpost." Angel and James both nodded and quickly started moving to the cave.

Tyler glanced at Scythe. "You and I, we are moving over that bend," he said pointing at a hill that dips on the opposite of the road to the outpost. "We are going to take out the sentries on top of the outpost," he paused and looked at three giant canisters that were stacked, "and we will climb those canisters and finish off who is on top."

Scythe nodded and they both started to move in position. They went prone over the edge without being seen and peeked over the edge. There were three sentries on watch. None of them were in each other's sights. Tyler called through the coms network. "Angel, James, you both in position?"

"Yes sir," James replied.

Tyler looked to Scythe. "I'll take out the closest and furthest innie. On my mark, you climb that canister and quietly take out that last sentry." Tyler aimed down his sight and his crosshairs rested on the closest innie's forehead. "Mark." Tyler opened fire and shot the closest sentry. He dropped over the edge, face first. He then quickly redirected his sight to the furthest sentry and plugged him in the back of the head, sending him over the edge. Scythe immediately started sprinting to the canisters and proceeded in climbing to the top. He clambered to the top and slowly approached the unaware sentry. He drew his knife, covered the sentries mouth, and stuck his knife through his victim's neck. The sentry gurgled and dropped his weapon. Scythe slowly brought the lifeless body to the ground.

"All clear," he quietly informed over the com network.

"Nice job. Now, Angel, James. Breach the bottom level. Keep it as quiet as you can," Tyler ordered. He immediately got to his feet and started running to the canisters.

Angel nodded at James and they moved up to the doorway to the small outpost. Their motion trackers had five red pings and two faint blue pings just above them. Angel pulled out his silenced AR then glanced at James. James nodded and the two Spartans stormed into the threshold with their weapons aimed down their sights. Angel went left and immediately took down two of guards. They did not know what even hit them. James went left and shot only one of the soldiers in the head, but hesitated in taking down the rest. The other two soldiers quickly turned around and pointed their guns at James. Suddenly, they both dropped to the ground without firing a round. James lowered his BR and saw Tyler and Scythe walk in from the left entrance. They must of jumped down and flanked the two soldiers.

"Nice job, fellas," Ty congratulated.

"Next time, don't hesitate," Scythe advised in a direct tone towards James. James only bowed his head in shame.

Angel brushed past James and said, "Pussy."

"Shut up, Angel," Tyler yelled at him. James did not say anything in reply. Tyler looked at his team. "C'mon guys, we are a team. We aren't going to finish this op if we aren't going to act like a team."

"Of course, sir," Angel replied sarcastically with a cynical smile behind his visor.

Tyler kept his mouth shut and glanced at Scythe, who just stood there looking at his members. Little did he know that Scythe was also smirking behind his visor. The four Spartans gathered and crouched down in a circle. They all awaited for their Fireteam leader's plan.

"Alright, now we gotta take the Spire," Tyler started. "Magnus said that we have to take out twenty innies, two of them being Spartans. Alright this is how I'm going to have this happen." He looked at Scythe and pointed a finger at him. "I want you upstairs on the top level," he said referring to the outpost. "I noticed that the Spire was in sight from up there. When I give you the signal, you'll start picking them off one-by-one."

"What's the signal?" Scythe asked.

"I'll just say 'Snipe them'," Tyler replied. He didn't know how else to give the signal. Scythe smirked at Ty's unoriginal method for giving a signal.

"Anyways, both of you," he said pointing at James and Angel. "You're coming with me. We are going to access the Spire's entrances. From there, we are going to have to plan things on the spot." He looked back at Scythe. "Scythe, target those enemy Spartans if you get the chance."

"Will do," he replied.

"Alright, let's go," he ordered. Tyler, James, and Angel started running towards the Spire out of sight.

Scythe quickly started going up to the roof of the outpost and climbed up a catwalk. He saw half the Spire in the distance and quickly went prone. He activated his night vision ability and assessed the second level of the Spire. He spotted eight hostiles. One of them was isolated from the rest of them and was standing over an edge. Scythe wondered if he should quickly take him out.

"Nobody is going to notice," he said to himself. He smirked and placed his crosshairs over the soldier's head. He quickly looked around at the other soldiers in sight. "Yeah. Nobody will notice." He aimed at the soldier's head and pulled the trigger. The sniper rifle reported a suppressed bang and zipped through the air. The bullet sliced through the soldier's head and his body flew forward over the edge. Scythe glanced around at the other soldiers and noticed that none of them noticed anything different which made him smirk.

Tyler and his team moved up next to a giant Forerunner cover. He glanced around the corner of the barrier which showed underneath the platform to the Spire. There were two entrances that went upward. He then turned around and glanced around the other side of the barrier. There was a inclined pathway that went up to the second left. Ty then looked back at Angel and James. "Alright, here's the deal. Angel, take your shotgun and go up that entrance under the Spire. Take anyone out quietly if you can, but engage loud if you're spotted. Meet up on that platform." Angel nodded. "James, you and I are going up the incline. We will flank them. Scythe will cover us. Alright?"

"Yes sir," James responded.

"Okay, let's go."

Angel turned the corner and started going up the entrance under the main platform. Ty and James started up the incline. Scythe saw his two teammates going up the incline and saw three soldiers coming into view. "Snipe them," Ty ordered Scythe. Scythe immediately took out two of the soldiers with one shot. James and Ty ran up the incline and saw many soldiers in view. Some were dropping from Scythe's sniper rounds. Ty opened fire with his DMR, taking out a few soldiers. James followed suite, but didn't check the other side of the of the Spire.

Suddenly, James screamed out in pain and dropped to the ground. He flipped over and saw one of the enemy Spartans standing over him. He realized that there was a knife in his left shoulder. He grimaced at the pain, but quickly drew his magnum and aimed at the Spartan, but the Spartan kicked the pistol out of his hands and crouched on top of James with a fist in the air. Suddenly, the Spartan flew back and there was a red mist over James.

"James, get up," Scythe ordered over the coms. James pulled the knife out with a pained yell, then sprawled to his pistol. His left arm was rendered useless.

Tyler finally realized what happened to his teammate and swapped his DMR for his grenade launcher. He aimed towards the platform where Angel was supposed to meet up. He launched a grenade around six soldiers and exploded, killing them instantly. He turned back to his teammate and brought James to his feet and handed him his pistol. "Stay with me. Cover my six." James nodded, grimacing behind his visor.

Angel noticed the other soldiers running up to the second level and took the opportunity to take out a few of them in their confusion. Suddenly, he was pushed to the ground, falling onto his shotgun. He flipped over and saw a Spartan that was not from his Fireteam. Angel quickly pointed and fired a shotgun shell at the Spartan. The spray hit the Spartan but only took down his shields and didn't cause any physical damage. The enemy Spartan kicked the shotgun out of Angel's hands and slugged Angel in middle of the visor, recoiling his head back at the ground. His helmet absorbed most of the recoiled impact on the ground, but still caused him to see some stars.

The Spartan raised his other fist for another strike, but angel snapped out of his daze and kicked the Spartan back several feet. The enemy Spartan landed on one knee and looked up at Angel, who quickly got up to his feet, but stumbled in his defense formation.

"Come at me, faggot," Angel jeered his foe.

"UNSC scumbag," the foe replied as he cracked his neck. He drew his combat knife and prepared to attack Angel.

Angel drew his knife and shook his head, still dazed from the blow. His foe thrusted at him with his knife hand up. Angel brought his free hand up and brought his right knee down to the ground to absorb the force. The Spartan brought both hands down, but his blade just brushed off Angel's helmet. Angel took his blade hand and jammed the blade into the Spartan's gut then kicked him back. The Spartan coughed and dropped to his knees with both hands on Angel's blade.

"You thought you had a chance, huh? You're a pussy," Angel insulted as he kicked his shotgun up to his hands. He pumped a shell into the chamber, pointed the end of the barrel at the enemy Spartan's chest, and pulled the trigger. The shotgun impact sent the Spartan back several feet, killing him instantly. "Well," Angel inhaled, "So much for that."

He walked up to the incline to the second level and noticed that there wasn't any gunfire. He turned left and saw Tyler tending a wound that James got. He rolled his eyes and placed his shotgun on his back. "What happened to him?" Angel asked Tyler.

"Enemy Spartan stuck him in the shoulder, but Scythe shot him in head. Saved him," Tyler replied flatly.

Angel glanced behind him and saw the dead enemy Spartan on the ground. He was laying in the dead center of the platform. Anyone could have seen that Spartan coming. Angel rolled his eyes again and looked at James. "Retard. Maybe if you weren't a terrible Spartan, you could have taken him down yourself."

James looked up at Angel with an angered expression but kept his mouth shut. Tyler quickly turned to Angel, a flame was ignited in his chest. "You're not helping here, asshole."

Angel brought his arms up. "Hey, I'm just saying. I took out the other Spartan all by myself and you don't see me acting like a pussy."

"That's enough, Spartan Gutierrez!" Tyler yelled out loud in anger.

"Alright, sir," Angel replied sarcastically. "Aren' we supposed to extract data from the mainframe? I'd rather do that than wait for a pansy to get to his feet."

"Stow your shit, we are never going to get this op done with your bullshit," Tyler yelled again as he got to his feet.

"Question still stands, sir," Angel replied solemnly.

Tyler glared at his teammate and paused for a moment. A new feeling of stress started to stir in his gut. He was in charge of this Fireteam and yet there was already tension between them. He felt overwhelmed at the idea of working on this serious teamwork dilemma. Maybe Commander Bame could give him some insight on how to assess this dilemma. However, now was not the time to ponder on this.

"Hold on. We need to wait for Scythe to get here," he replied in a calmer tone.

"Already here, sir," Scythe said from behind him with his sniper rifle in his hands.

"Alright, fine," he murmured. He took out a small data extraction device and threw it to Angel. "Go start the extraction. Radio in when you start extracting."

"Got it," Angel replied and started running to the mainframe.

Tyler looked at James, then to Scythe. He shook his head and clenched his fist. Scythe noticed his physical expression and lifted his chin up. "Something wrong, sir?"

Tyler looked back at Scythe. "Nothing, Scythe."

Scythe heard the whole fight. He didn't really think much of it, but it really stir up his Fireteam leader's temper. Honestly, he still believed that he should have been the Fireteam leader of Aries as opposed to Spartan Tyler Eilen. He was older and more experienced than Tyler, but still Bame ordered him to be the Fireteam leader. He was pretty upset with him for making that call, but didn't bother to say anything. If this op goes to shit, he will definitely speak up to Snow and Bame.

"Extracting data, sir," Angel called through the coms.

Tyler looked down at James. "Can you get on your feet?"

"Yes, sir. I can. I can barely move my arm, but I can still load a magnum," James replied as he got to his feet.

"I guess that'll have to do then," Tyler commented as he brought James to his feet. He handed James his magnum and patted his right shoulder. "Keep your head down and stick behind me."

"Yes, sir."

"Gutierrez, what's the ETA on that data retrieval?" Tyler called Angel.

"Just about done," he replied through the coms.

"Well that was quick. Get up here ASAP," he ordered him. Tyler remembered that the evac point was through a cave system under the Spire. He remembered the one that was just across from the two entrances that Angel entered. He realized that he had to call in evac and he brought his hand to the side of his helmet. "Magnus, the data is collected. Request for evac."

"I got you Aries. Evac will arrive shortly. You'd best hurry your asses up, I'm seeing lots of movement around the spire." Magnus called back.

"Roger that Magnus. Aries on me, evac is on its way." Tyler called out.

The team readied their weapons as Angel came sprinting down the spire hallway, trying to load fresh slugs into his shotgun. "Run you fucks!" Angel screamed in a panicked tone.

Seeing a thick sea of red cloud his tracker, Tyler hurried over to the edge of the spire platform, his team picking up their gear and following behind. Suddenly a scaley black figure darted out from the ceiling and struck Tyler square in his visor with its pointed tail causing it fracture. This impact sent Tyler hurtling to the floor where to figure climbed onto the downed spartan and began to rapidly claw away at at his damaged helmet. Charging at the beast, Scythe unsheathed his combat knife and viciously jabbed it into the beast's elongated jaw, as the creature let out a horrific deafening screech. Acid like fluid sprayed from the creatures wound, landing on Scythes forearm, instantly breaking his energy shields and began to corrode away at the outer armour layer.

"Agghhh fuck!" Scythe screamed out as he began to retrieve his blade from the downed serpent.

"You alright Scythe?" Tyler shouted with concern as he removed his helmet to look at the damage.

"No time to worry, we gotta get to that evac ASAP, go I've got you covered." Scythe responded, reloading his sniper rifle.

Tyler reluctantly nodded and leapt from the spire into the cave. James and Angel finished off the other beast, and followed their leader down into the caves, Angel reassuringly tapping Scythe on the shoulder as he brushed past.

Scythe took aim at an approaching Xenomorph and landed a precise round on the beasts head, causing it to explode. Seeing an approaching wave of more rabid xenos, Scythe slung his rifle over his shoulder and followed his teammates into the dark cave, as the sound of violent screeching and clattering claws gave pursuit.

"Shit which way is evac?" Angel yelled as he came to a holt looking around the cave at the three different pathways.

"Straight ahead Aries, straight ahead." Magnus voiced down the comms.

"Go go go Spartans!" Tyler shouted at Angel and James.

The two took off sprinting straight ahead towards the evac zone. Tyler turned back to see Scythe, barely keeping ahead of the masses of teeth and claws behind him.

"Duck!" Tyler yelled back at Scythe, who immediately hit the deck as tyler reached for his grenade launcher firing a high explosive round past Scythe and into the horde behind him. A deafening thud echoed throughout the narrow and cramped tunnels of the cave as debris and fire exploded outwards. The horde recoiled backwards allowing for scythe to scramble to his feet and the pair both vaulted up and out of the cave system.

"Hurry god dammit! You've got ten seconds." James yelped at the two sprinting spartans, after just clambering aboard the pelican. James leaned down on the pelican floor, grasping the edge with his left hand and extending his right arm out to tyler.

"I got you!" James shouted to Tyler.

Tyler leaped up to the pelican and grasped James' hand, pulling himself up and inside the pelican. Scythe followed closely behind. He jumped up and caught the tip of the pelican door. Angel jumped for Scythe, only just reaching his hand before it slipped off. Angel pulled scythe into the pelican as the doors closed behind them. Scythe and Tyler lay collapsed on the floor, exhausted, whilst James began to look at his left shoulder, still oozing with blood from the prior knife puncture. Angel stood looking down at the two collapsed spartans, letting out a somewhat sinister giggle to himself.

Magnus's avatar appeared in the Spartans' HUD. "Wow that was… close. Alright Aries well done, I'm sending you over to the commander for an evaluation." The AI snapped his fingers and the four Spartans saw a bright light.

The bright light dimmed away in each of the Spartans' vision, revealing their surroundings. They all glanced around the room at each other with fulfilled expressions, except for James. He was rubbing his shoulder with a pained expression across his face. The War Games simulation was able to link into the Spartan's nervous system which was why James still felt the after effects from the knife injury in the simulation, but thankfully, it wasn't as painful as it was in the simulation, however it will still be sore for a couple days.

Spartan Wolf was standing near the team with his arms crossed. There was a faint smirk across his face as he studied the Spartans' expressions. "C'mon Aries, let's not keep the Commander waiting," Dave ordered.

The members of Aries quickly stood up. Dave led them to the briefing room where they all saw Commander Bame and Lieutenant Commander Snow in their Spartan armor, holding their helmets under their armpits. They calmly stood around the giant hologram table that depicted the map of Apex 7. The approaching Spartans gathered around the table and stood at attention before their commander. The commander studied the members of Fireteam Aries and the one thing he picked up was tension.

Eric leaned onto the table. "At ease, Fireteam Aries," he said. The Spartans all eased down to a comfortable stance. Eric was going to be straight on his feedback with the Spartans' actions. "You all were able to complete the objective on Apex 7 as well as safely evacuating the island." Angel and Scythe both smirked and nodded to each other. In contrast, Tyler and James kept a straight and stern expression.

"However, this simulation is a novice leveled op," he stated, pointing at the map of Apex 7. "I saw your every move throughout this op and I cannot say that I am completely pleased with the choices some of you made." He placed his Shinobi helmet on the briefing table and rested his palms on the base of the table. Tyler's heart dropped and he clenched his jaw muscles. "You boys are on the same side here. Eilen, your plans of action were satisfactory. However, you need to work on your leadership abilities and know the difference between demanding respect and commanding respect."

He turned his gaze to Scythe. "Spartan Scythe, your sniping abilities are quite honed. However, I saw you take out that sentry before Eilen's order." Eric cocked his head slightly and nodded. "Impressive shot, no doubt. But you need to follow orders." Scythe faintly rolled his eyes but he knew that his decision was not very practical on his part.

Commander Bame then glanced at Angel with a very stern expression. The look he gave him did not make Angel twitch or feel uneasy as if he was not very intimidated by the seriousness in Bame's look. Bame's expression then fell to a defeated look, knowing that whatever he would say would simply fly over the young Spartan's head. Instead, he looked over to his lieutenant commander. No words were spoken because Mario knew exactly what Eric wanted him to do, which was, in a figure of speech, sending the wolves in. Mario simply nodded to Eric and turned his gaze to Angel. His eyes blazed with anger. His helmet slammed into the briefing table with an unexpected amount of force that caused the other Spartans, besides Bame, to flinch out of impulse.

"Now you look at me, Spartan Gutierrez," he demanded pointing a finger at the younger Spartan. "You acting like a fucking little temperamental kid in that simulation was the most cringiest things I've seen in a long time. I don't give a fuck who you think you are, how good you think you are, what your story is, or whatever the fuck else," he roared. The height of his thundering voice caused the rest of the Spartans to take a small step back. Mario continued blaring on with his roast. "You may think that you're the shit when you take out a simulation Spartan, but that's fucking child's play compared to what _you_ ," he pointed at Angel again, "will be up against. It won't be against some pansy-ass innie fucks! You're going to be dealing with the ugliest, yet most dangerous bastards in the goddamn galaxy. This division will be in toughest situations your little brain simply cannot comprehend! And you will not survive," he simply stated. He paused and he looked at the remaining members of Fireteam Aries. "You will not survive alone out there. You need to work with your team, and you _will_. I know it's a cliché thing to say, but teamwork is extremely important in this division, and I'm not going to authorize any Fireteam transfers, so you're stuck with your team. You will work with your Fireteam or I will have your ass court martialed and kicked out of this division. Consider this a constant and standing order. Do you understand me, Spartan Gutierrez?"

There was nothing Angel could say back. He hated how weak his teammate was, but he was stuck with him, whether he liked it or not, and he certainly wasn't going to get court martialed over it. So all he did was silently groaned. All he could do was nod to his superior. "Yes, sir." A sense of defeat was implied deep within his tone.

"Good. Now, get your asses out of here," Mario ordered.

The members of Fireteam Aries started to exit the briefing room. Eric glanced at Mario with a surprised expression. Eric was going to say another thing to the Fireteam but figured that now was not the time, especially now that Mario dismissed them. Normally, other commanders would lose their tempers if their direct lieutenant made a decision like Mario did, however Bame only smiled at his lieutenant commander. He trusted his lieutenant's choice. The moment the members of Fireteam Aries left the briefing room, Dave looked over to Mario and smiled.

"You know, you can be a real asshole," he said with an amused look.

Mario looked over to his friend and smirked. "Shouldn't you be dying of cancer?"

Mario's unexpecting retort completely shocked Eric. He was in complete awe and couldn't find anything to say. Eric glanced at Dave who quickly glanced back then looked back to Mario. His expression then fell to a very serious and slightly hurt look, then there was an awkward pause between the three Spartans. Dave's next response shocked Eric even more. He broke the awkward silence by laughing!

"What the hell..?" Eric said in awe. The other two just looked at Eric's reaction and laughed. Eric just smiled and shook his head not knowing what to say.

"You should have seen the look on your face, Commander," Dave said while laughing. Eric rolled his eyes and nodded with a small smile across his face.

"Alright guys," Eric said, trying to bring professionalism back in. "Let's review Fireteam Creedance's and Foresight's simulation."

 **Date: January 13th, 2559, 1730 Hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

The members of Fireteam Aries entered the mess hall where the rest of the Fireteams were eating. They grabbed their trays full of food and searched for a table to sit at. Tyler befriended the leader of Fireteam Cerulean who was Cristian Thresh. He was sitting at table with the rest of his members. The rest of Cerulean consisted of Quanah Sage, Kaitlyn Rene, and then there was Jonah Edward, who was the youngest in the Fireteam. They were all already fairly close to each other, especially Jonah and Kaitlyn in a more platonic sense. Tyler was fairly jealous at the fact of how close the members in Cerulean were. He decided to sit at the same table as them. James joined him at their table. However, Scythe and Angel joined Fireteam Creedance's table. Scythe and Angel befriended Creedance's leader, Matthew McBride, who was a talented leader, but often exploited his gift in his ability to lead.

Tyler and James sat down at Thresh's table and greeted them. The rest of Cerulean greeted them back. "Hey, fellas. How did your simulation go?"

"It sucked," Jonah replied pretty quickly and flatly. Kaitlyn chuckled at the quick comment. Sage rolled his eyes and a small smirk formed across his face. Thresh only shook his head and rolled his eyes. Both James and Tyler were confused on whether the simulation turned out good or bad, just based on the others' reactions.

"It went fine, actually," Thresh finally corrected after sipping from his cup. He glanced over to Jonah who was giggling. "Don't always listen to what _Ducky_ has to say. He's quite the pessimist."

Jonah leaned back and extended his arms with a confused expression across his face. "Why do you guys keep calling me 'Ducky'?"

Kait laughed even more and shrugged Jonah. "Because you look like a duck!" She said with a mischievous grin across her face.

Quanah raised a finger after taking a bite out of his food. "Well, actually," he started just before he swallowed his food. "It's because he had a pet duck. Who owns a duck now?" He said in his Canadian accent where his "o" sounded more like an "oo" sound.

"Hey!" Jonah interjected with a his eyebrows lowered. "That duck was an amazing duck!" The others at the table started laughing at his comment. Jonah's sassy expression then suddenly changed to a more embarrassed look. "I should have never told you guys about Jeffery," he said, referring to his pet duck.

"Oh lighten up, Ducky," Kait reassured him with a smile still across her face. "We're only messing with you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jonah replied with an annoyed expression.

"Anyways," Cristian said, attempting to get back on topic. "Our simulation was more or less a test of our personal skills in our new armor. We had a series of Wargame matches against Fireteam Jaeger."

Quanah interrupted Cristian and leaned into the table towards Tyler with a playful expression. "And Kait here has a serious crush on that Matthew Spade guy!" Kait was absolutely appalled by Quanah's comment and she chucked her spoon at him. The spoon hit him in the face and Quanah opened up his arms with an amused expression across his face. "What? You know it's true, Kait!"

Tyler laughed at the comment and turned around to look at the adjacent table to his where members of Fireteam Jaeger were. Their team leader was a serious and hard-headed Spartan named Benjamin Porsche. He preferred to remain quiet outside of military operations or simulations. During them, he was a fierce leader that deeply cared about the welfare of his fellow Spartans. Tyler's smile somewhat faded at the thought. He envied Porsche's leadership abilities. The rest of the members of Jaeger were Trystian Carboni, Steve Frost, and then of course, there was Matthew Spade. As Tyler expected, he caught Matt giving Kait some interested glances, but quickly turning his gaze away after he realized that Tyler caught him looking. Tyler smiled more and glanced back at Kait, who was still cursing Quanah for his comment.

"You know, Kait," Tyler started, cutting her off from her rant on Quanah. Quanah silently thanked him for stopping her. "I think he likes you back."

Tyler's comment caught her by surprise and she froze. She then glanced behind Tyler towards Matt who was talking to Trystian about something. Suddenly, he turned his gaze towards her and their eyes locked for a moment. It was unmistakable, he meant to catch Kait's gaze. He smiled at her which caused her to blush and she quickly looked away.

Witnessing all of this, Tyler's eyes widened and he started laughing along with the rest of the table.

"Bro, you should definitely go talk to him," Quanah suggested with a smile.

Kait was utterly horrified at how progressively she lost control over the situation. However, she secretly loved the attention her friends were giving her.

Jonah suddenly got to his feet. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

Kait's eyes suddenly opened as widen as they could and shouted "NO!" Which received many looks from other tables. She grabbed Jonah by the arm and attempted to pull him to his seat, but Jonah quickly escaped her grapple and started walking to Jaeger's table with a proud smile across his face. Kait scurried to her feet, but her foot was caught on the stool and she tripped. She was utterly horrified and embarrassed after falling, but she still managed to get to her feet and run over to Jonah, who just sat down at their table. She stopped completely in her tracks and realized she was standing next Jaeger's table. Everyone at the table, including Jonah who was smiling, was staring at her. She simply waved to them and said, "Hi". Jonah and Quanah started laughing their asses off at how awkward she was. Ben Porsche event smirked at the situation and he moved his tray across the table, leaving a spot open next to Matt.

Matt was smiling and he tapped the seat next to him boldly. "Take a seat."

Kait hesitated and sheepishly nodded, slowly taking a seat next to Matt. Both Quanah and James picked up their tray and joined the table to watch the show, leaving Tyler and Thresh at the table. Tyler wanted to join but he had to talk business with Thresh.

"Anyways," Thresh said after shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "We had five 4v4's deathmatches against Jaeger. We did pretty good for the most part, but Jaeger won all five matches, pretty much because of that Steve Frost guy. He quickly learned how to effectively use his armor abilities and he demolished us. Thrust, ground-pound, hovering, man he knew it all. Behind that he was outstanding with hand-to-hand combat."

Tyler nodded. "Damn, I'll have to watch the recap sometime."

Thresh cocked his head and nodded. "Yeah that might be a good idea. You might learn a few things." He took another sip from his drink and exhaled. "Well, what about you guys? How did Aries do?"

James and Tyler both exchanged looks with each other. "Well, it was a success. It was the Apex 7 simulation." Thresh nodded, understanding what kind of simulation it was. "We managed to complete both objectives, but I would say that the simulation was a failure."

Thresh raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

Tyler had a defeated look across his face. "Well.." He slowly started, attempting to find a way to word his feedback. "Let's just say that my Fireteam as close as yours, or Jaeger's for that matter."

Thresh cocked his head and crossed his arms. "Was there a problem between your teammates?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tyler admitted. "Scythe visibly doubts James' ability as a Spartan, but he never said anything derogatory towards him. Gutierrez, on the other hand," he shook his head and slowly blinked, "was vocal with James. Calling him a pussy and such." He made sure that James couldn't hear him, but thankfully, the ruckus at the other table was loud enough to cancel out his voice.

Thresh shook his hand leaned back in. "Well, what did higher ups say?"

Tyler raised both eyebrows and cocked his head, knowing that what Mario said was pretty effective. "Lieutenant Commander Snow chewed them out pretty bad and even threatened Gutierrez with a court martial."

"Well then," Thresh said to his surprise. "Sucks for him." He paused and took another sip from his cup. "On the bright side, this is only the first week. I'm sure things will look better for Aries as time goes on. Project Omega won't allow bullshit like that just flow around. If Gutierrez keeps up with his bullshit, he'll be cut from the program, no doubt."

Tyler nodded but he still felt that familiar feeling of stress in his gut. "I hope you're right, Thresh."

"Trust me, Eilen. Everything will look up from here. Commander Bame must of saw something in you that really influenced his decision in making _you_ a Fireteam leader, and I trust Bame's judgment."

Thresh had a way with words that really boosted other people's morale which was why he was a chosen to be a leader. Tyler felt a small sense of hope in his gut and gestured a 'thank you' to Thresh. Thresh replied with a reassuring smile. Tyler reflected on his current situation as a leader. He knew he was the most inexperienced Fireteam leader out of the six Fireteams, but he thought about what Thresh said. There was something about him that must have caused Bame to choose him as a Fireteam leader. He just could not pinpoint it. He will have to follow Thresh's comment. He will just have to wait and see. Maybe he will figure out what Bame's reason was in time.


	3. Hadley's Hope

**Date: January 9th, 2559, 0900 hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa Firing Range**

 **Event: New Weapons Testing**

After a few days of training exercises and simulations, it was time for the new recruits to familiarize themselves with new weapons that were designed just for Project Omega. Ivan and Dave had the new weapons placed on a table right next to the firing range. The other Spartans all gathered around the table to study the new weaponry. Most of the weapons they saw were almost identical to the weapons they've already seen, however they had assorted paint jobs that stood out from the factory default color scheme. On the other hand, there were three weapons that none of them have ever seen before, although they shared some resemblance from the others.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," Dave announced. "Today, you will all be testing out new weaponry. ONI was considerate enough to lend us some of their latest and greatest weapons."Spartan Bishop of Fireteam Foresight raised his hand slightly. Dave noticed his hand pointed a finger at him. "Yeah, Bishop?"

Bishop pointed at the three newest weapons on the table. "Those three weapons. They look like variants from those very old guns that the USCM used a couple hundred years ago."

His comment impressed Dave. He assumed that no one would be know the origins of these weapons. "You seem to know your shit, Bishop. How would you know that?"

Bishop crossed his arms and shrugged. "Well," he huffed, "I'm kind of a history nut. Especially with guns."

Dave shrugged and glanced at Ivan, who also had an impressed expression across his face. "You should talk to Bame about guns. He's quite the gun nut himself." He pulled out his data pad and unlocked the screen. "Magnus, you there?"

Magnus's hologram popped out of the data pad with an annoyed expression across his face. "Yes, Dave. I always will be. I'd rather be in my own little world blowing up Sherman and Easy 8 tanks with my Tiger tank, but sadly, I have to obey protocol. What can I do for you, Dave?"

Dave rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Thanks for the lovely comment, Magnus, but I don't give a shit about your little world of tanks that you love to play in."

"That's a demerit," Magnus said with a smirk across his face. A few of the Spartans giggled at the AI's joke.

That was a comment that Magnus loved to say since Dave and a few of the other higher ups said it many times to the new recruits. Mainly to the same recruits. Dave smirked at the joke and was about to share another smartass comment with the AI, but remembered that this was a training exercise.

"Yeah, whatever, Magnus. Do me a favor and tell these Spartans about these three weapons," Dave ordered pointing at the three weapons. He set the data pad on the table, then crossed his fingers.

Magnus turned his gaze and studied the three weapons for a couple seconds. At the snap of his fingers, a holographic screen popped out of the data pad showing descriptive files about the three new weapons.

"Well, let's go down the list, shall we?" He turned and pointed at Dave. "Would be so kind to pick up that rifle, sir?"

Dave smiled and went to pick the rifle. "So you had to make me do some work, eh?"

"Just trying to keep you on your feet, sir," Magnus replied. He turned to the Spartans. "This is the M44AE4 Pulse Rifle. It is the remastered version of the primitive, yet effective version of the M41A Pulse Rifle that the Colonial Marines once used almost four hundred years ago. The reason ONI redesigned this weapon, rather than just letting you guys use your regular AR's, was because this weapon proved to be extremely effective against Xenomorphs according to what Corporal Hicks informed the Weyland-Yutani Corporation after his tour on LV-426. Anyways, the Pulse Rifle has an electronic pulse action that fires 10x24mm high explosive light-armor piercing rounds at an effective range up to 500 meters, with a normal ammo capacity of sixty rounds. It's much more lethal than your MA5D Assault Rifles. The only problem with these weapons is that the cost of the ammunition is significantly higher compared to the other weapons you are familiar with. Also, it takes much more time to manufacture the rounds. So as a result, there will only be a handful of these guns in Omega's arsenal meaning that only one person per Fireteam will be able to use the rifle. Spartan Wolf, would you be so kind to demonstrate the lethal force of the Pulse Rifle?"

"I'd be glad to," Dave replied with a smile. It was without a doubt that the Pulse Rifle was his new favorite weapon of choice. "Observe, Spartans," he ordered.

He picked up the large magazine and slapped it into the rifle, causing the ammo count meter to fly up to sixty rounds. He pulled the bolt back, then let go, placing a round in the chamber. He stepped up to the firing range and aimed down the sights. He took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. The report of the strange higher pitched gunshots echoed through the firing range, almost sounding like a laser gun more so than a slug based weapon. The metallic target at the end of the range was being torn up by each round until it completely disintegrated into scrap. The Spartans were fairly impressed with the weapon's performance.

Spartan Frost of Fireteam Jaeger raised his hand. "So why would ONI development a new version of this primitive weapon when we already have that," he asked, pointing at the explosive variant of the SAW that was more commonly known as _The Answer_. "I mean, The Answer also fires explosive rounds and has an ammo capacity of seventy-two. It's just as, if not, more useful than the Pulse Rifle."

"I see your point, Spartan Frost," Magnus replied. "The Answer deals much more stopping power than the Pulse Rifle, and indeed, it does have a higher ammo capacity. However, The Answer is not as accurate and it's much heavier. It's categorized as a light machine gun, whereas the Pulse Rifle is classified as an assault rifle. Both weapons have their purposes. Pulse rifles are much more customizable as well as being more portable than The Answer."

Frost nodded his head. He'd have to test the weapon out for himself at some point.

"Alright, let's move onto the next," said Magnus. He pointed to Ivan. "Would you, fine sir, please pick up this bad boy?" He asked Ivan.

"Yeah, sure," Ivan replied as put his helmet on. He lifted up the giant heavy machine gun and strapped the mounting bracket around his Spartan armor, keeping the weapon in place.

The length of the weapon was nearly as tall as the Spartan! Ivan held it at his hip, with his left hand gripping a handle on top of the weapon and his right hand gripping the rear of the weapon. It lacked a stock at the rear, but the mounting bracket seemed like it would compensate for the recoil. The machine gun consisted of a giant drum magazine on the left side and a large cocking handle on the right side.

The sheer beauty of the weapon seemed to really catch the attention of a few of the larger Spartans, especially Justin Dukes and James Regendorf of Fireteam Foresight. They both gave each other small smirks and continued to behold the demonstration.

Ivan pulled the cocking handle back and forth and positioned himself in front of the firing range. Dave stood next to the buttons that activated targets. He pressed the button and Ivan immediately opened fire. The thunderous report of the heavy weapon shook the ground and caused giant sonic waves at the end of the barrel, slightly obscuring the air around it. The rate of fire was possibly higher than the other machine gun turrets that the Spartans were familiar with.

Dave pressed another button that activated a few moving targets. In a matter of seconds, those targets were torn to scrap metal which, needless to say, astonished all of the Spartans. The flashes and the sheer power of the weapon were absolutely beautiful and frightening. Finally, Ivan seized fire, then turned around to look at the Spartans. Despite having his face blocked by his visor, the Spartans all saw the smile across his face.

"That, my friends," Magnus announced with a smirk across his face, "is the latest and greatest M56 Gen 2 Smartgun. Isn't she beautiful?"

"Damn," Dukes commented. The other Spartans were more than impressed by its sheer beauty.

Magnus continued on about the Smartgun. "This weapon was the pride and jewel of the USCM back in the good ol' days. An instant morale booster on the battlefield, or a morale destroyer for the enemy."

"No kidding," Spartan Regendorf commented with a smirk.

"Yeah. Anyways, the Smartgun is now considered the State of the Art of weaponry of the UNSC. ONI designed the second generation of Smartguns to be one hundred percent compatible with your Smart Links in your HUD's. It's awesome ability, that you guys witnessed when Ivan tore apart those moving targets in an instant, is that it locks onto a target through your HUD and the Smart rounds are homed onto that target. There was an aim assist program installed within the weapon where it end of the barrel automatically guides itself to the locked on target, hence its name: the Smartgun. The ammo capacity in each magazine is five-hundred Smart rounds. It shoots at 1200 RPM, and its effective range is up to fifteen-hundred meters. Yeah it goes pretty far. The farther the target is, the more effective the Smartgun is."

Magnus continued on about the weapon. "There are some problems with this weapon. It is not very effective at super close range, but you can easily spray the rounds around you if you ever get in that situation. Also, the cost and time to manufacture this weapon is surprisingly much more than that of the Scorpion Tank." Many eyes among the Spartans were opened much wider at that comment. "Yes, it cost more money to make _and_ it takes much longer to manufacture than the tank. So obviously, we won't have many in our disposal. Right now, we only have ten of them in our armory on Kepler."

"Geez," Tyler commented in shock.

"Yeah. Well anyways," said Magnus. "The last weapon here is one that you all can probably guess. Take a guess, Spartans."

"Looks like a flamethrower," Bishop commented.

Magnus nodded. "Good guess. Yes it is. It's a much more portable version than the variant that you are all probably familiar with. This one here," he pointed at the flamethrower," is called the M280B Flamethrower. Like the other two weapons, it is an updated design that was taken from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Now, it's pretty straightforward as you all would expect. It's fueled by a small canister of napalm. They are extremely effective against Xenomorphs, especially in confined environments." He looked back at the Spartans and smiled. "If any of you have one of these in combat, have fun burning those bugs like they are Jews."

Many of Spartans laughed at the joke, including Dave. Ivan just shook his head.

"As for the rest of the weapons, I'm sure you are pretty familiar with them. The Lawgiver, the Typhon, The Answer, and so on. If you have any questions, just ask Dave. I believe my job here is done," Magnus said as he looked at Dave.

"Alright, Magnus. You can go play in your little world of tanks now," he joked.

"I will," he simply replied then disappearing from the data pad.

"Alright Spartans," Dave announced. "I'll let you boys take these weapons to the firing range." He pointed at Spartans Regendorf, Dukes, and Spade. "You three, you'll take turns using the Smartgun."

The three Spartans were visibly pleased when they were picked to use the weapon. Some of the other Spartans gave those three Spartans some pretty jealous and envious looks, except for Kait. She gave him a flirtatious expression, looking at him and the Smartgun, insinuating the gun's size. He caught on with her implication and merely shrugged with a small smirk across his face. A sudden sense of excitement and anticipation rushed through Kait's veins and she shifted her body.

Jonah noticed Kait's visible flirtatious display towards Spade and he rolled his eyes. It was fairly obvious to him that Kait was attempting to get a particular reaction from Matt by glancing at him and the Smartgun. A smile formed across his face and he took a step away from Kait, knowing that his next comment was going to earn him a punch in the face.

"My god, just a get room already and find out for sure!" He said trying to keep a straight expression, but he couldn't help the smile forming across face. A few of the Spartans heard his comment and chuckled.

Kait instantly turned her gaze towards Jonah with an expression of sheer rage and anger. If he were any closer, she would punch him square in the face. Thankfully, she managed to compose herself and managed to form a smirk, then shrugged in agreement. She had to admit to herself that she was fairly curious of the innuendo. Jonah's smile was instantly changed to a look of disgust.

"Alright, that's just nasty," he commented which made Kait giggle.

The nasty image of his two friends going hot and heavy invaded his mind and he attempted really hard to get the image out of his head, but he failed miserably. Without thinking, he grabbed a Pulse Rifle and started to fire down the range. The rest of the Spartans began to take turns using each of the weapons that were displayed on the table.

 **Date: January 9th, 2559, 1130 hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa Briefing Room**

 **Event: Operation Debriefing from FLEETCOM**

Thunderous echoes of gunfire were heard inside the briefing room where Commander Bame and Lieutenant Commander Snow stood at attention in front of the live monitor which showed Rear Admiral Thomas Lasky on the other end. Eric was very surprised and pleased to hear about Lasky's promotion. It was well deserved. He was worried that FLEETCOM was going to terminate his rank after Wildfire, but this was a very pleasant surprise. Well, somewhat after he thought about it. Thomas Lasky did have a way with words and he is a very likable guy and leader. His outgoing and optimistic charisma allowed him to talk himself into and through anything.

Lasky greeted them with a smile and a nod. "At ease, Spartans." Both Eric and Mario eased to a more comfortable stance. Lasky overheard the thunderous reports of gunfire in the background and he smirked. "I assume that your Spartans are enjoying their new toys."

Bame slightly turned head towards the window, listening to the undeniable roar of the Smartgun in the distance which made him smile and nod. "It's safe to assume that, sir. That Smartgun is pretty attractive."

"Yeah, she's really pretty, ain't she?" Lasky replied. "I wish we had those in the war, but I guess we turned out alright without them." Lasky cleared his throat and his expression changed into a more professional tone.

"Alright, down to business, Spartans. As you both know, the UNSC and ONI, for that matter, basically have almost zero intel on the Meta Division. They are very good at hiding themselves. All we know is that they are a secret Insurrectionist Weapons Research Division that captured Xenomorph and Yautja specimens during Operation Wildfire. And then, of course, there's their leader that goes by the alias, 'Blackwater'. We simply do not know where any of their bases of operations are. Furthermore, the regular Insurrectionist soldiers that we've taken prisoner also have no idea where they are. Actually, they never even heard of Meta Division. Which leads us to almost nothing to work with."

Snow spoke up. "Sir, if I may."

"Go ahead, Snow," Lasky granted.

"The way I see it, if they are as secret as they are said to be, why would they suddenly make an appearance during Wildfire," he asked. "In the _middle_ of battle?" He added.

Lasky lowered his eyebrows. "That's what we were wondering too. Obviously, they had enough motivation to come out of hiding just to get capture those bugs and predators."

Bame spoke up. "Maybe it was because it was the only chance they had to capture those specimens. They obviously had prior knowledge about the Xenomorphs and the Yautja, otherwise they wouldn't have even showed up. But my question is, why wouldn't they go to that planet before or after Wildfire?"

"Well, the planet was uncharted, right?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," Eric replied. He rubbed his chin and glanced back at Lasky, who was also fairly puzzled. Suddenly, a theory popped up into Eric's head. "Maybe this is how it went down: The Meta Division must have had no prior knowledge about this planet, which is fair to assume since there wasn't any proof that the planet existed. However, maybe they acted fast since they figured there would be nothing left after the battle because of maybe," he paused and cleared his throat. "Well, the planet would have been glassed by the Storm Covenant if they reached orbit."

Lasky nodded. "That's a fair assumption."

"Or," Eric continued. "Or maybe a similar situation would happen with the Yautja ships. Or if we nuked it from orbit. They had a small gap to grab what they could."

"This is a valid theory and all, Spartan," Lasky commented. "But how does this help us find where they are right now?"

Eric pondered on that question for a moment. "Well," he said. "Like I said, they had prior knowledge about the Xenomorphs and Yautja. Is there any intel on either species?"

"What kind of intel?"

"Intel that would tell us where we ran into them in the past."

Lasky pondered on the comment. He looked to his left at the hologram pad. "Roland?"

Roland's avatar popped out of the hologram. "Yes, Rear Admiral?"

"What was the planet you mentioned where we first encountered the Xenomorphs?"

"LV-426, designated Acheron."

Lasky nodded. "Alright, when was the last time we were there?"

Roland searched the records for a few moments. "Well, as far as I know, we haven't been there since the thermonuclear explosion."

A lightbulb lit up over Bame's head. "If we haven't been there since then, it's very possible that the Meta Division landed there at some time, assuming that the UNSC or ONI haven't monitored that system since that incident."

"As far as I know, Spartan," Roland said. "We haven't even thought about going there again. In our minds, it was just a rock in the middle of space."

Lasky looked over to Bame and Snow. "Maybe we should scout that moon. It's possible that Meta has landed there before. That would explain why they had prior knowledge on the Xenomorphs."

Both Bame and Snow nodded. "Agreed, sir."

"Alright, I'll notify Captain Duran about this. Your Spartans are ready, right?"

Bame glanced at Snow, who nodded back. "Ready as they will ever be, sir."

"Sounds good. I'll order Captain Duran to take Omega Division to LV-426 for a scouting mission in two days. Do you think you'll need any assistance from any marine battalions?"

Bame shook his head. "I don't think we do, sir. However, we should have one battalion on standby if there is a Meta base on LV-426."

"Understood, Commander. Good luck out there and stay safe," Lasky said with a half smile.

"We will sir," Bame replied. He and Mario both soluted Lasky and the screen went blank.

Mario and Eric exchanged curious looks. "Let's hope our Spartans are ready."

 **Date: January 11th, 2559, 0625 hours**

 **Location: Calpamos' Moon, designated Acheron, in Orbit aboard The Brigadier**

 **Event: Scouting Mission near the blast sight of Hadley's Hope**

It didn't take long for The Brigadier to arrive to LV-426 via slipspace. The Spartans were in the mess hall getting something to eat. There was an uneasy tension hidden within all of them. They heard all of the horror stories about what happened in Wildfire, but they knew they more trained for this sort of thing. Commander Bame ordered two Fireteams to be dropped down onto the rock to scout out the primitive colony called Hadley's Hope. The two Fireteams chosen for the scouting mission were Fireteams Jaeger and Foresight. The rest of the Fireteams along with the marine battalion will be on standby in case anything were to happened. As far as they knew, there weren't any Meta bases on the rock. However, looks can be deceiving.

Bishop and Porsche both sat at the same table with their Fireteams discussing about how they were going to go about this scouting mission. Porsche volunteered to have his Fireteam to take point which would leave Foresight to cover the rear.

"Did Dave say what weapons you guys will be using?" Porsche asked Bishop.

"Well, we will have some heavy ordinance. Dukes and Regendorf are manning Smartguns. They will hold two drums each. That'll give us two-thousand rounds on backup," Bishop said glancing at Dukes and Regendorf. Porsche nodded in acknowledgment. The heavy ordinance eased a little bit of stress in his gut.

Dukes and Regendorf fist bumped and continued eating. They both were eager to fight and show just how lethal they are with those Smart Guns.

"Anyways," Bishop continued. "Their Smart Guns are all they are gonna have. As for myself and Ocean, well," he paused and glanced at Spartan Volodymyr Ocean, the youngest Spartan in the division at age twenty. A clear sense of eagerness was all over his face, hoping to prove himself to his Fireteam. Bishop placed a hand on Ocean's shoulder with a small smile. "Junior here will be making sure nothing gets close to those Smartgunners, right Ocean?"

Ocean smiled widely and nodded his head, but failed to compose his excitement. Porsche huffed at his excitement. "You got it, boss," Ocean enthusiastically replied.

"I'll be watching you, bud." He looked back to Porsche and continued on. "Anyways, he'll be bringing a shotgun and a SMG." Ocean nodded in agreement. "As for me, I'll just have a BR and an AR. Dave gave me a few data chips if we came across any Innie terminals."

Ben nodded his head. Foresight seemed to be pretty set, in terms of weapons. The two Smartgunners definitely compensate for the security of the unit. He glanced over to his team. They didn't seem to have any problem with Foresight's loadouts.

"What about you boys?" Bishop asked Porsche.

Porsche shrugged. "Well, nothing as hot rod as you all," he said pointing at Dukes and Regendorf. "Both Frost and Spade will be carrying a flamethrower and an AR."

Frost simply nodded then took sip from his cup. He knew his role. Not much really scared him. Spade merely shrugged. A small sense of anxiety was stirring in his stomach followed by a faint rotating ball in his gut that he couldn't pinpoint. It was either anticipation or fear. Either way, he knew to not allow that feeling interfere with his choices.

Porsche continued on. "I'll be bringing a DMR, my energy wakizashi, and an SMG. My DMR will be mounted with a COG sight. Carboni will be bringing a Pulse Rifle and a shotgun. So in my opinion, we should be all set up front. I'm sure of it. Hopefully we don't run into any Xenomorphs."

Bishop only shrugged. He was slightly skeptical with how dangerous the Xenomorphs were made out to be. Granted, the stories about them were pretty gruesome, but he heard worse ones about the Flood. The Flood took over your body the moment an infection form entered it. From what he was told, the Xenomorphs were similar to the Flood, but not as dangerous. They aren't a parasitic spacefaring species like the Flood. They acted more on animalistic instincts, and barely on any logic. Except for the Queen Xenomorph. Even so, she was definitely not as dangerous as the Gravemind. She couldn't be.

Dave suddenly approached the table with his armor on. He snapped Bishop out of his thought by dropping his helmet onto the table. "You guys ready for this?"

Porsche nodded. "Yes sir, we were just discussing what we were going to do when we landed."

Dave raised an eyebrow. "You do know that it's just a scouting mission, right? It shouldn't be that big of deal."

"Doesn't hurt to be safe, sir," Porsche replied flatly as he took a sip from his glass.

Dave shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Even so, we haven't been on this rock in almost four-hundred years which just means we will be scouting out unfamiliar territory."

"Four-hundred years is a long time," Bishop commented. "It's possible that all we will see is rusted out metal and unstable structures. I assume the radiation from that nuclear blast should have subsided by now, right?"

"Oh, definitely by now," Dave replied seeming to be very sure about himself. "Yeah I think this op is going to be a waste of our time, but Bame wants it to happen, so I guess we'll have to follow through. And like you said, Bishop. Four-hundred is a long ass time. Those Xenomorphs, even if they survived the blast, are most likely dead."

"I hope your right," Porsche whispered.

"Alright, get your shit together. Bame wants you on the ground in forty-five minutes," Dave ordered. The eight Spartans all got their feet and quickly went the armory.

Accompanied by the sound of depressurizing air pistons, the doors of the armory slid open, revealing all of the toys it possessed. Nearly the entire UNSC arsenal was lining the walls of the moderately sized room. The eight Spartans entered and were immediately approached by several UNSC technicians. One of them stepped forward from the cluster, tapping sporadically on a data pad.

"Identification?" He asked blatantly, without removing his eyes from the device.

"Fireteams Foresight and Jaeger checking in for armor assembling and weapon retrieval." Bishop replied.

The technician paused, looked up and scanned the party of Spartans, then immediately began tapping once more. "No-can-do, sir. You have to have tier-4 clearance for that kind of request."

Ocean replied, "But we are SPARTANS. By this point, we've gotta have that clearance." He looked to his comrades for support. "...Right?" He received no response.

Either the technician didn't hear Ocean, or simply ignored him, due to the absence of a response or acknowledgement of any kind. He was wasting precious time. Apparently, some of his comrades were seemingly annoyed by his lack of respect and time management as well. Unexpectedly, Porsche broke away from the group, walked up to the technician, and tore the tablet out of his hands.

"HEY! That is priceless equipment filled with classified viewer sensitive inform-" his outburst was cut short when Porsche proceeded to slam the device onto the polished granite floor, reducing the tablet to silicon dust.

"Now, if you're done looking up furry porn," Porsche said, "I suggest you allow us to acquire our gear. Unless you would rather report to Commander Bame himself. Your call."

The technician swallowed hard. "Y-yes, sir!" He proceeded to yell at one of his compatriots, "Rogers! Stop sitting around and show these men to the armor nodes!"

Another technician stepped forward and addressed Bishop and Porsche, "Right this way, gentlemen." In lower tone, he continued , "And I apologize for the inconvenience. Sergeant Gregor has been… on edge as of late. No idea why, but his displeasing attitude seems to originate from that tablet. So, thank you for so effectively… getting rid of it, one could say." He smiled.

Sergeant Gregor's voice echoed from the other side of the room. "So what are you guys gonna do about my tablet, eh? Do you have any idea how much money I invested in that thing?!" He shouted.

Dukes looked over his shoulder and snapped back, "Do you have any idea how much we don't care?"

The red-faced sergeant stormed off, somewhat out of rage, mostly out of embarrassment. He lost this fight, and he decided he had done enough work for the day. Within a few minutes, all eight Spartans were geared up in the Mjolnir GEN-II Spartan-IV armor. Individual armor sets hadn't been assigned yet, but the order request sent to ONI for the new prototypes had been placed and should arrive shortly. Until then, the common, yet equally as lethal, Recruit variant would have to do.

The sound of metal sliding against metal radiated throughout the armory, as weapons were retrieved from their racks, rounds being loaded into magazines, slugs being chambered, and frags magnetizing to waist plates. Each spartan had located and prepped their assigned weapons and were armed to the teeth with equipment. Helmet under the nook of his arm, Porsche observed the Spartans before him. He noticed a sense of overconfidence.

"Gents, may I ask you a brief question if I may?" He asked. At this point, all eyes were fixated on him. Porsche took a deep breath, and continued. "Do any of you have a clue what we are going up against in this operation?" He received blank stares. "While there is no guarantee that we will encounter any of those xenomorphs, there is also no guarantee that we won't. Yes, this may be just a scouting mission, and we can handle some innies, but if we do so happen to go toe-to-toe with one of those buzzards, it'll be an engagement none of us will forget. What I ask for is simply this: stay focused, don't try anything stupid, and don't be a hero. Stick to the plan, and if anything goes wrong… well, improvise. We've got seven minutes until deployment. Take the remainder of that time to get your shields charged if you haven't yet."

Porsche then magnetized his DMR and SMG to his back, and left the room, walking to Jaeger's designated pelican. The rest of the Spartans followed suite, except for Matthew Spade. He sat on a bench next to the weapon lockers, mulling over a picture he and Kaitlyn had taken with each other just a few days ago. Bishop popped his head back into the armory, "You coming Spade? Everyone is waiting on you for departure."

"Oh, Yeah. Sorry, man. I'm on my way." Spade replied. Bishop nodded and ran back to Foresight's pelican. Spade let out a deep sigh, folded the photo into a small square, and tucked it into the inside of his breastplate. He picked up his weapons, grabbed his helmet, and walked out to the pelican.

 **Time: 0701 hours**

 **Location: Hangar Bay 2 of The Brigadier**

Commander Bame observed the two Fireteams geared up and entering their designated pelicans. Suddenly, a flashback of when he and his old Crimson team entered the pelican to invade the uncharted planet during Wildfire. He remembered listening to Danny, Dylan, and Jon make bets on who was going to get more kills. He slowly closed his eyes and bowed his head in sadness. He and his team were both overconfident in their abilities and he was seeing the same thing from these new Spartans. If only they knew what they were getting into.

The members of Jaeger entered their pelican and sat down. Bame noticed Spade making a couple non-military hand gestures to someone to his right. He slowly turned his head spotted Spartan Rene waving to him with a worried expression. Bame glanced back to Spade who was trying to reassure her with a genuine smile. He tapped his chest and pointed back at Rene. She nodded back still with a worried expression.

"She _should_ be worried," Bame whispered to himself. He took a deep breath and lightly shook his head.

The pelican's bay doors finally closed up airtight and the two dropships lifted off the ground, then exited the hangar bay. They both flew towards the surface of the lifeless moon. Destination: Hadley's Hope.

Porsche glanced around his teammates as the dropship entered the moon's airspace. They were all strapped into their seats. There were things that he needed to know before the back gate opened up. He brought two fingers up to the side of his helmet, activating the communications network.

"Gipsy 015, do you copy? Radio test," he called out.

"Gipsy 015 on station, five by five. Go ahead Jaeger leader," the female pilot called back.

"What's the condition of the atmosphere? Is it breathable?"

"One moment, Jaeger," the pilot called back. A few moments passed by and the members of Jaeger team exchange glances. Suddenly, the pilot called back. "It should be breathable. Our diagnostics tell us that the air is fairly breathable. However, it'll be like climbing Mount Everest, so I suggest you keep your helmets on unless you have no other choice."

"Acknowledged, Gipsy," Porsche called back. He tapped a button on his wrist device that connected with Foresight's leader. "Bishop, you hear that?"

"Yeah I did, we will be careful. Hopefully nothing out of the ordinary happens down there," Bishop replied.

"Agreed." Porsche then glanced around at his team. "You guys ready?"

"Yes sir," Frost replied. The other two members both nodded.

"Foresight and Jaeger, we are coming to our LZ, get ready to pile out," the pilot of Gipsy announced through the com network.

"Alright, people. Let's get ready," Porsche ordered as he unhinged the straps and got to his feet. He pulled out his DMR and held on to a bar on the ceiling. "Gipsy, what's the weather status?"

"Quite windy and light rain. Not very hazardous," the pilot called back.

"Thanks, Gipsy," Porsche replied.

"We arrived at the landing zone, Spartans. Be careful out there."

The back gate opened up and the four Spartans piled out to secure the LZ. It was a little rainy and the wind whistled through the air. There was scrap metal and debris laying all across the ground. The giant structure in the distance was dark and obviously out of commission due to the explosion that happened hundreds of years ago.

"That must have been the atmosphere processor that blew up," Bishop commented.

"It must have been an extremely efficient machine considering the air is still somewhat breathable to this day," Porsche replied. "Alright, Spartans, let's make our way through this graveyard."

"Dukes, Regendorf, keep your eyes peeled for any movement," Bishop called out.

The entire complex was completely dark. The power must have been off since the detonation, which seemed obvious. Porsche studied the structures on each side of the road. Many of the structures seemed like old shops with primitive neon signs outside. One of them said 'Bar'. The road was littered by primitive designed vehicles and other debris. Porsche looked up and saw a complex just above all of the shops and structures that must have been the main control center. That was where they had to go to at least get an idea of what the aftermath was.

The two Fireteams approached a very rusted out metallic door that was halfway open. The entrance lead to the inside of the main complex. Porsche snapped his fingers at Spade and Carboni. The two Spartans stopped in their tracks and looked at their Fireteam leader. Porsche pointed through the door, implying that he wanted them to take point. Both Spartans nodded and slowly entered the complex with their weapons up and ready.

Porsche noticed that the wires were hanging out of the door's system controls. He grabbed ahold of the wires and quickly snapped them off, then brought them closer to his helmet for a better look. They appeared to be cut fairly recently, considering that the copper wires weren't very eroded. It was still fairly sharp. Porsche threw the wires on the ground and continued into the main complex.

It was nearly pitch black in the corridors. Each Spartan activated their flashlights on their weapons and studied the aftermath of the explosion. Despite the the wires hanging from the ceiling and multiple holes on each surface, the hallway was still fairly intact, all things considered. The floor was still sturdy enough to walk on.

Spade and Frost came across a large hole and pointed their AR's inside of it. It was large enough where both Spade and Frost could fit inside of it. Spade crouched down and studied the metal along the perimeter of the hole. The metal wasn't rusted out. It was still fairly shiny. This type metal was a very primitive type that, after all these centuries, should be rusting out quickly. The metal floor around him was clearly rusted out as expected, but not around the perimeter of the whole, which made no sense to him. He looked back his leader.

"Sir, you should look at this," he said.

Porsche approached his teammate and crouched down. Spade showed him the the color of the metal along the hole's perimeter. It was obvious that this hole was created long after the detonation of this facility.

"Spartans, listen up," Porsche called out through the com network. Each Spartan stopped in their tracks and held their position. "This facility has had visitors long after the explosion. There are some holes with metal that hasn't had enough time to rust out. They must have been created by the Xenomorph's acidic blood. I'm betting that there are still some Xenos lurking in the shadows. Keep your guards up and watch that motion tracker."

"If they bled on the ground," Bishop added. "That must mean that whoever made them bleed could still be around, keep your eyes out for anything else. I'm betting the innies made an appearance here not long ago."

The two Fireteams closely examined their surroundings as they made their way to the control center. Many more clues of recent activity were found. Acid holes, bullet holes that weren't quite rusted out yet, and brass cartridges that were still intact. Finally, the two Fireteams reached it and they slowly made their way in.

The control room looked like a fire storm warped around. The metallic ceiling panels were blown down with wires hanging down from them. The floor panels were also compromised. Some had large acid holes and the others seemed to have bursted from beneath. Most of the panels and the acid holes were very rusted out which meant that whatever happened here happened centuries ago.

"Must have been a hell of a last stand," Dukes commented.

Frost glanced down and noticed a rusted out Pulse rifle. He picked it up and took a better look at it. There was an emblem of a skull on the left side where the magazine was with a knife penetrating the top of it. Then on the top where the iron sights were, the name "Hudson" was written out along the plastic. Frost smiled and placed the rifle on his back. "Pretty cool souvenir."

Dukes, Ocean, and Bishop moved to the next room and discovered what seemed to be a medical laboratory. The glass window to the laboratory was blasted open. Bishop looked around at the primitive computers. He noticed a small device next to the machines that was very out of place. It was much newer device around the size of a small trash can. He crouched down to it and noticed a small emblem on the side of a red fist.

"Innies," Bishop muttered. The device was hooked up to the computer system just next to it. "Porsche, we found a innie device in the next room. Get in here."

Not a minute later, Porsche quickly made his way into the room where the device was. Bishop simply pointed at the emblem on the device. "They were definitely here."

"At least we have proof," Porsche replied flatly. He took a better look at the device. "It looks like a small generator. See if it has anymore power."

Bishop searched for the power button and then turned it on. The device still had some power left. The computer monitor that was hooked up to the device suddenly powered up to its standby state. It started to automatically boot up to its main screen. The screen seemed to relocate where it was previously opened due to a random shutdown. Both Fireteam leaders saw a few strangely labeled files.

Bishop snapped his fingers at Ocean. "Ocean, come over here and see what you can find."

Ocean quickly made his way to the monitor and sat down in the chair. Dukes stood behind him, still on guard with his massive Smart Gun. He watched Ocean get himself situated with the primitive computer. Ocean scanned through the computer's database and found countless files that were opened almost a year ago.

"Well, take a look at these files," he said, pointing at the screen.

Bishop placed his battle rifle on his back and leaned down on the metallic desk to get a better look. "They were opened last February. The innies must have extracted this data." He pulled out a data chip and plugged it into the monitor. "It's gotta be valuable data. Ocean, extract all that data."

Ocean nodded and dragged the files on the monitor into the empty data chip's file. A notification popped up that caused Ocean to let out an annoyed huff. "It's going to take roughly three hours to extract all of this data, sir."

Both Bishop and Porsche let out an annoyed exhale. "Looks like we are going to be here for a while," Bishop commented. He brought his finger to the side of his helmet. "Listen up Spartans, we're going to be here for a while. Keep your guards up and sit tight."

"I'll radio The Brigadier," Porsche told the Spartans around him. He tapped a command on his wrist pad, selecting the commander's main communications channel. "Commander Bame, come in," he called out. A few seconds passed by.

"We read you, Spartan. What do you got for me?" Bame called back.

"We came across a small Insurrectionist generator in the main control center that was connected to a computer system in the medical laboratory. It still had power and we powered up the computer system. Ocean, here, checked out which files were last opened. Some of them were opened in February, 2558."

On the other end of the com's network aboard The Brigadier, Bame, Snow, Wolf, and Morales were gathered around the briefing table that showed a holographic map of Hadley's Hope that Magnus was able to provide. Commander Bame and Lieutenant Commander Snow glanced at each other. Snow looked back at the briefing table with a stern expression.

"Does it look like the Insurrectionist made that control room a base of operations?" Snow questioned.

"No, sir. This is only innie device we came across in here. The control room is a wreck and it doesn't look like anyone has been here since the explosion," Porsche replied flatly.

Suddenly, Spartan Ocean interrupted the communications network. "Sirs, I'm sorry for interrupting, but I found something in one of these files that you boys might want to hear." Bishop smacked Ocean across his helmet lightly.

"Go ahead, Ocean," Bame replied back.

"Well, um," he hesitated. "Well, Bishop is having me download all the files which is going to take three hours, so I decided to go through a few of the files while they transfer into the data chip-"

"What do you need to tell us, Spartan?" Snow impatiently ordered the young Spartan.

"Well, I found a file that gave me a location to something called The Derelict," he replied. Both Bame and Snow exchanged curious expressions.

"Go on," Bame replied.

"It's about five miles northwest of Hadley's Hope," Ocean said.

Bame looked back at the briefing table. "Magnus, move the map five miles, northwest of this position."

"Alright," the AI replied. The holographic map then rapidly moved northwest, showing unrendered terrain with a large bump on the surface that looked too symmetrical to be a natural formation.

"Stop here, render this area, Magnus," Bame ordered the AI.

The screen went through a few rendering processes and a clearer 3-D picture of a C-shaped ship and a small square building. The C-shaped ship looked extremely familiar. The other building was no doubt a human building. In addition, it also had a more contemporary design. It wasn't an old building. It was definitely built recently.

"Spartans, can you scout out that Derelict anytime soon?" Bame asked.

"Well, this data extraction is going to take three hours, sir. Unless you want us to split up," Porsche replied back.

Bame really didn't want split the Fireteams apart. They still didn't know if they were alone there yet. He looked over to Spartan Morales and Wolf. "I want you two to get Fireteams Creedance and Cerulean prepped as soon as possible. Have them scout out the Derelict."

"Got it," Dave replied. Ivan nodded with him and the two left the room.

Bame looked back at the briefing table. "No need, Porsche. Hold your position. We are sending two other Spartan teams to scout out the Derelict."

"Acknowledged, sir. Anything else?"

"Not right now. Radio in if you find anything else."

"Understood," Porsche called back. He looked back at Bishop. "You heard all that?"

"Yep."

"Well, looks like we are going to sit tight for a while," Porsche comment as he took a seat.


	4. Ambush

**Date: January 11th, 2559, 0903 hours**

 **Location: Acheron, Hadley's Hope Control Room**

 **Event: Scouting Mission**

Almost three hours had passed without incident since Spartan Ocean began to extract the data files from the computer in the medical laboratory. The communication network was quiet. Members of both Fireteams did what they could to keep themselves occupied. Porsche and Bishop searched the area for anything else that would be useful to them.

Frost kept his mind occupied by cleaning off debris and rust from the primitive Pulse Rifle he found. There was no doubt it once belonged to a USCM marine named Hudson. Frost pulled the breach back, then pulled the magazine out effortlessly, which he intrigued him because he figured that it would take more force to pry it out due to possibly being rusted together with the rifle. Glancing at the magazine, he noticed that there still were some 10mm rounds left over. The weapon was still in relatively good position. There didn't seem to be any extreme rust damage inside the bolt, on the barrel, or anywhere else. The tough plastic frame was still intact. The only issue it had, which really was a simple fix, was that the battery for the ammunition meter was dead.

Either way, Frost was very impressed by the weapon designers that manufactured the Pulse Rifle. He wondered why the UNSC, back in the day, did not incorporate the M41A Pulse Rifles into all of their branches in the military force rather than just the United State's Army and Colonial Marine military branches. They were, and still are to his best knowledge, much more efficient than the standard issued MA5 series assault rifles, which would theoretically assume that they were much more efficient than the MA5's predecessor back in the twenty-second century. However, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation was known to be a shady company. The UNSC most likely did not want to promote the company in any way, which would mean they wouldn't authorize the use of the M41A Pulse Rifles in their main military force.

As Frost fiddled with his intriguing souvenir, most of the other Spartans were sitting around the control room humoring themselves by playing with their weapons or throwing pebbles at cans they set up around the room. While they were messing around, Spade was standing guard at the entrance of the control room. He pulled out the picture of him and Kait from his chestplate. A strange turning feeling filled his gut and in his chest. He hoped that she was alright on scouting mission near the Derelict. There wasn't anything he could do other than hope for the best. This rock of a moon sent chills down his spine. His instincts told him that there was something wrong with this place.

Suddenly, a red marker popped up on his mission tracker which caught his attention. It was moving rather fast in random directions roughly twenty meters ahead of him. He quickly placed his picture between his chest and his chestplate then readied his assault rifle.

"Porsche," he called through the channel. "I'm picking up movement on the motion tracker. Twenty meters, twelve o'clock from my position. Permission to investigate."

"Negative, hold at your position. Regendorf, get up there and back him up," Porsche replied back in a stern tone.

"Got it, sir," replied Regendorf.

The red ping was moving side to side at the same distance. Suddenly, the red blip started to rapidly approach Spade's position which caused his whole body to tense up. He had a clear view of the hallway in front of him, yet he couldn't spot the anomaly anywhere. He used Smart-Link on his HUD to get a better view of the dimmed hallway before him, but his visor still did not pick up any movement.

"Sir, it's closing in fast and I have not acquired a visual. Requesting assistance ASAP," Spade called back in utter distress.

"I'm on my way, Spade. You're gonna be fine," Regendorf assured him through the coms channel.

A deep sense of fear flared inside Spade's gut causing him to take a step back and grip his rifle harder. He watched closely as the red mark on the motion tracker swiftly move toward him until it was practically on his position. He vigorously waved his rifle around his immediate surroundings, but still, he did not see or hear anything. The silence was broken when he faintly heard a strange organic crackling noise just above him. Slowly, he lifted his gaze up at the metallic ceiling. There, he saw a transparent slime slowly dripping through the small openings between the rusted metal panel. Then a faint hissing noise followed the crackling.

Without warning, the metallic ceiling panel was thrusted down at Spade. The panel smacked down on his helmet with tremendous force causing him to drop to the floor. Despite his helmet's advanced protection, the shear force of the impact caused the surroundings around him to spin. He slowly shook his head, attempting to snap out of his daze. After a hard blink, his eyes spotted a faint view of a black serpent-like creature that had a shiny biomechanical structure across its entire body. The creature showed its metallic colored teeth to Spade and then shrieked. Spade yelled out in fear and quickly moved the rifle towards the serpent. The serpent swiped the rifle out of his hand with its long black tail then grabbed the Spartan by the shoulders. Regendorf finally arrived to the scene to see what was happening, but it was too late for him react accordingly. In a swift motion, the serpent leaped up into the opening in the ceiling carrying Spade in its arms.

"No!" Regendorf screamed out as he pulled the trigger on his Smart Gun, but the serpent was already gone. With Spade.

The deafening gunfire drew the rest of the scouting party, except for Ocean, to the guarding post with their weapons ready. Porsche and Bishop quickly made their way to the front of the group trying to make sense of what happened. The only thing they found was Spade's AR and flamethrower.

Porsche stopped in his tracks as his gaze landed on the two remaining weapons lying on the floor. A white-hot flare of rage conjured up within his stomach. In his anger, he slammed his fist against wall with as much force as he could deliver, causing a loud echo reflect off the metallic walls in the hallway. The impact left a clear imprint of his fist in the steel paneling and warped the surrounding metal.

"Damn it!" He roared.

Without warning, a few red markers appeared in each Spartan's motion tracker twenty-five meters away from their position. Each Spartan quickly raised their weapons towards the end of the hallway. Then in a flash, their motion trackers picked up several more red markers that eventually created a giant red wave that was moving in their direction. Every second, more and more red flooded into their trackers. Porsche's response to the massive anomaly was to assess the situation at hand. He had to assume that the contacts that were rapidly approaching their position were Xenomorphs. His immediate choice was to gather the rest of the team back into the control room. He quickly glanced over to his teammates and pointed in the direction of the control room.

"Get back into the control room! Now!" He ordered.

In no time, both Fireteams retreated back into the control room and got into a defensive formation around the room. Dukes and Regendorf were positioned roughly fifteen meters away from the control room's main entrance. Porsche and Bishop quickly closed the main door attempted to barricade it as best they could with the debris around them. The rest of the Spartans were positioned behind the two Smartgunners. The large red wave quickly made its way towards the Spartans' position. Twenty-five meters. Twenty meters. Fifteen meters. Ten meters. They were closing in too fast for the Spartans to react appropriately.

Regendorf remembered that the serpent used the passage just above the ceiling panels to escape with Spade. He instantly pointed at Frost and Carboni. "Hey, they're coming from above the ceiling panels! Quick, throw some grenades up there!"

The two looked over to Porsche for confirmation. Porsche quickly nodded his head. "Do it!"

The two Spartans pulled out a few grenades and moved under a few openings in the ceiling. They primed the grenades, immediately tossed them up into the openings, and sprinted back behind the Smartgunners. The grenades promptly detonated causing the ceiling to cave into the room. The Spartans heard loud agonizing shrieks from the ceiling passage way. The smoke quickly cleared up and the super soldiers had a clear view of the entire passage way. The passageway was littered by several black serpent body parts which immediately caused the broken metal panels to erode from the acid.

In a flash, several Xenomorphs flooded out of the ceiling passage, climbing down the walls. Both Regendorf and Dukes promptly opened fire at the massive infestation, firing waves of Smart Gun rounds into the horde of Xenomorphs. Frost followed suite by pulling his flamethrower out and barbecuing the incoming bugs. The rest of the Spartans provided suppressing fire for the two Smartgunners.

As the firefight raged in the control room, Bishop decided to sprint back into the medical laboratory where he found Ocean with his shotgun raised up, who was clearly shaken up by the current situation. He immediately raised his arms to refrain Ocean from pulling the trigger on his shotgun. "Whoa Ocean, it's me!" He assured the younger Spartan. Ocean quickly shifted the end of his barrel away from Bishop. Bishop lowered his arms and jogged up to shaken up Spartan. "What's the status on that data?" He practically shouted at Ocean.

Ocean shifted his head towards the door in hesitation, seeming to be very distressed and curious about what was happening in the control room. "What's going on out there? What's happening?" He asked in sheer horror.

Bishop smacked Ocean across his helmet without warning. "Answer the question Ocean! Focus!" He sternly ordered the younger Spartan.

"Um, erm," Ocean sheepishly turned to the monitor and read the estimated time of the completion of the data extraction. "Two minutes, sir!" He finally replied back.

Bishop nodded and turned back to the entrance to the control room, where the deafening firefight was taking place. "Stay here and keep us posted, Ocean. Keep your head straight and call us if anything happens. Don't worry, I'll return," he reassured the distraught younger Spartan. Ocean sheepishly nodded his head.

Without any warning, Bishop sprinted back into the control center without receiving any vocal acknowledgement from Ocean. Ocean stood there with his shotgun raised at the door. Deafening reports of the Smart Guns shook the floor and walls. Ocean faintly heard agonizing shrieks and high pitched cries in the background.

"Oh my god," Ocean muttered in horror.

In the next room, the raging firefight continued on. Noticing that his DMR was no longer effective in this situation, Porsche swapped out for his SMG then continued to suppress the seemingly endless waves of Xenomorphs. There were just too many.

"They just keep coming!" Carboni cried out as he pulled the trigger of his gun.

Several corpses of the dead bugs piled on top of each other which began to lean against the wall. The corpses' acidic blood quickly began to erode the wall and the floor beneath them.

 _This can't be happening. Not now. Of all times, why now?!_ Porsche thought as his hands began to numb due to the violent vibrations emanating from his SMG. His radar was nothing less than a swarm of red blips. Those closest to the bundle of Spartans eventually vanished, but more kept on reappearing at the edge of the display. _How are there this many bugs? We must have killed over twenty by now!_ The ammo meter on his HUD was rapidly diminishing at a very alarming rate.

The other Spartans were experiencing the same problem with ammo, except for the two Smartgunners, at least for now. Thankfully, they continued to spray the incoming horde of Xenomorphs. They still had plenty of ammo left in reserve which was sufficient for the current situation. At least they hoped it was.

Realizing that the Smartgunners were keeping the horde at bay, Porsche took the opportunity to contact _The Brigadier_. He tapped the communications command on his wrist pad and called in to the command center. "Come in Brigadier," he shouted through the gunfire. "We have been engaged by an overwhelming swarm of Xenomorphs! Requesting assistance immediately!" He paused, waiting for a reply and continued to watch as more and more corpses of bugs land on top of each other. There was no immediate reply. "I repeat: Requesting immediate assistance on my position!"

Finally Porsche heard a reply. "Say again, Spartan! Say again!"

Porsche turned his body away from the gunfire hoping that it would somewhat suppress the blaring reports of gunfire. "I repeat: We have been engaged by an overwhelming swarm of Xenomorphs in Hadley Hope's control room! Requesting immediate support on our position ASAP!"

The dispatcher from Command immediately replied. "We are sending the second scouting team to your position. ETA: Ten minutes. Hold your position tight!"

"Acknowledged, Brigadier!" He turned back to the firefight and continued to provide suppressing fire at the horde using his SMG.

Out of the blue, Dukes' Smart Gun suddenly clicked. "Shit! I'm out!" He shouted and immediately began to exchange clips.

Regendorf continued to provide suppressing fire, but he noticed that his ammo meter was also rapidly approaching zero. "I'm almost dry!"

Suddenly, a larger wave of Xenomorphs crawled out of the hole in the ceiling as if they noticed that the two main gunners weren't shooting as much. Bishop ordered the rest of the Spartans to cover the two Smartgunners.

Then out of the blue and without any warning, Carboni's Pulse Rifle suddenly clicked after he squeezed the trigger. He quickly pulled the empty magazine out and reached down to his belt for a new mag. However, he realized that he had no more magazines left for his Pulse Rifle and he immediately dropped it to the ground. Then, in a swift motion, he drew his shotgun, pumped a shell into the chamber, and continued to pick off a few bugs creating dull green mists from the unfortunate Xenomorph victims. Despite the effectiveness of his shotgun, it was clear that the situation was rapidly getting out of hand, especially since one of the Smartgunners were temporarily out of ammo and the other was shooting short controlled bursts to save ammo. There were too many Xenos crawling around in the room.

"Get back to medical! Now!" Porsche cried out.

The Spartans slowly made their way to the medical lab. Dukes finished exchanging clips, then immediately resumed his suppressive fire. Regendorf, who was to his right, was struggling to exchange clips to his Smart Gun. On his left, he spotted three bugs getting way too close to Frost, who seemed unaware of them. In a swift movement, he shifted the end of his barrel at the Xenomorphs and completely tore them to shreds. He glanced back to his right to find that Regendorf was gone. His Smart Gun was lying on the ground with half of the harness attached to it.

"Where's Regendorf?" He cried out, still mowing down the dark serpents.

Porsche grabbed his arm and yanked hard.

"MEDICAL! NOW!" He yelled. Dukes just stood there in a shocked stupor. "That's an order, spartan!"

Dukes clumsily pulled back to the medical laboratory while continuing to suppress the endless horde of serpents. As he crossed the threshold, both Bishop and Porsche slammed the door shut. Dukes glanced around at the remaining Spartans. Bishop, Porsche, Ocean, Frost, and himself. Regendorf and Carboni where nowhere to be found.

Not a moment later, the door absorbed several impacts from the other side. The Xenomorphs hissed and shrieked as they forcefully tried to get through the door. Their sharp claws peered through the door's crease in a final push to pry it open. Both Porsche and Bishop attempted to keep the door closed the best they could, but there were too many bugs on the other end counteracting the Spartans' effort.

There was no doubt that there were several Xenomorphs on the other side of the door. Realizing that the Spartans were trapped, Frost pulled out his last grenade and looked at Bishop.

"Bishop, here," he yelled at him. Bishop glanced back to see the grenade in Frost's hand. He quickly glanced through the crease in the door, then decided that this could clear out the bugs before they could swarm into the room. He looked back at Frost and nodded. Frost threw him the grenade.

Bishop caught the grenade with one hand, activated the detonation process, and threw it through the crease of the door. "Fire in the hole!" All the Spartans ducked for cover. Bishop and Porsche dove away from the door. The blast of the grenade echoed through the hallways and the medical laboratory. The door was blown into the laboratory, leaving a large blast hole in the wall.

Dukes quickly snapped out of his daze and aimed his Smart Gun towards the blast hole. His fingers were firmly placed over the trigger, prepared to raze hell at any moment. After a long moment of silence, it seemed that the Xenomorphs were finally pushed back for now. The grenade's blast must have scared off the rest of them.

Porsche slowly got to his feet and assessed the situation. His motion tracker was now clear of hostiles, which allowed him to take a relieved deep breath. That momentary sense of relief immediately dissipated after he made a headcount of his teammates. Spade, Carboni, and Regendorf were gone. A fierce sense of rage rushed through his veins. His first operation was a disaster. Three of his teammates were gone, two of them from his own Fireteam. Before his rage took over his judgement, his sense of duty thankfully came back to him and he looked over to Ocean.

"Is the data extracted?" He asked sternly.

Ocean sheepishly nodded. "Yes sir," he murmured.

The young Spartan was clearly in some kind of state of shock. His hands were still tightly gripping his shotgun which was still pointed at the doorway. Porsche walked over and gently, yet firmly, forced the gun down. Suddenly, Ocean dropped his shotgun and began to gag. He fell to his knees, yanked off his helmet, and began to vomit vehemently. His rather gruesome actions were understandable, due to the smell that was generated over the past fifteen minutes. Smoldering metal, gunpowder, black smoke, acidic blood, and raw flesh all combined together made the air rather putrid. Once Ocean had collected himself, he found his helmet and replaced it. Bishop walked up behind the younger Spartan and patted him on the back, attempting to comfort the younger Spartan.

"What now?" Dukes asked.

"We rendezvous with the second scouting party, and we consider our options," Porsche replied flatly. "But first, I have to radio in with the Brigadier."

He turned around and opened up communications with the Brigadier via his wrist pad. "Brigadier, this is Spartan Porsche. Can you read me?"

"We read you, Spartan," Bame's voice called back. "What's your status?"

"Red, sir. Three Spartan casualties and we are low on ammo," Porsche stated back. "Spade, Regendorf, and Carboni are all MIA. No confirmed KIA's."

"How are they MIA?" Bame's voice asked through the channel.

Porsche slowly closed his eyes after reminiscing their horrible fates. "Xenomorphs, sir. They took them."

The comment caused a long silence in the channel. Porsche faintly heard Bame murmuring curses to himself. Finally, Bame cleared his throat and replied back. "I see, Spartan."

The commander paused once again. Porsche remained quiet and composed. He could easily sense the intense grief in his commander's voice.

Once again, Bame finally replied back. "Anything else you can tell me, Spartan?"

"Yessir. Several waves of Xenos attacked our position. We must have killed roughly," he paused for moment, estimating the body count. "Roughly fifty Xenomorphs."

"Fifty?" Bame replied in shock.

"Correct, sir," replied Porsche.

"Why are there so many?" Bame asked rhetorically. "Alright, rendezvous with the second scouting party. Spartan Morales will accompany you to plan a rescue operation."

"Understood. We are leaving now." He glanced back to his teammates. "Round up the rest of your supplies. We're moving out," Porsche ordered the team. The five remaining Spartans started to collect all the supplies they could. Ocean was faintly shaking, still in shock from the attack. His chestplate was suddenly grabbed by Bishop who then began to shake it vigorously.

"Ocean, keep it together. We're not out of this yet. Take a deep breath," he told him in a firm tone. Ocean slightly turned his head away from his team leader. He couldn't bare the situation at hand. Bishop slapped his visor again, which seemed to snap Ocean out of his trance. "Stay with me, Vlod." Ocean nodded his head.

Frost volunteered to take point with his flamethrower flared up and ready. Dukes followed closely behind him with only half a clip left in his Smart Gun. The other three followed suite with Bishop covering the rear flank. As Frost made his way into the control room, a light breeze blew against his armor, which caught his curiosity. He took several more steps into the room and closely examined the Xenomorph corpses littering the floor. The floor beneath them was slowly eroding away from the massive amounts of acid. Frost closely examined his motion tracker which was void of red pings. However, it was not very reassuring. Instead, anticipation was exponentially building in his gut. The bugs could very well still be lurking in the shadows.

The breeze was blowing from the giant window that oversaw the colony. A large section of the glass was fairly eroded by the acid that was sprayed about during the firefight. The hole was large enough for the Spartans to fit through. Porsche quickly moved towards the opening and leaned over the edge. It was roughly a twenty-five foot drop to the ground and the area was clear of any debris. He turned to the rest of the Spartans and snapped his fingers, getting their attention.

"The ground is clear, we're jumping down," he said. "C'mon, Spartans."

The other Spartans made their way to Porsche and glanced over the edge.

"One at a time. Make sure you hover on your way down," he ordered them.

Bishop placed his battle rifle on his back and took a step on the edge. After quickly limbering up, he hopped over the edge. Halfway down, he activated his hovering ability. On cue, the small jets on the back of his armor fired up which drastically slowed his velocity towards the ground. His feet safely met the ground and immediately pulled out his battle rifle to clear his surroundings. As expected, the area was clear.

The rest of the Spartans took turns jumping down to Bishop. They then quickly made their way to the rendezvous point which was close to their drop zone. After turning a corner to the drop zone, they spotted nine other Spartans. Fireteams Creedance and Cerulean, along with Spartan Morales, were standing in a defensive formation at the rendezvous point. One of the Spartans called out and pointed at the arriving Spartans. Morales spotted them and waved them to come over.

The Spartans promptly joined up with the second scouting party. Porsche and Bishop quickly ran up to their senior officer. Morales glanced around the surviving Spartans from the first scouting party. Noticing the three missing Spartans caused him to lower his head in grief. He overheard the chatter in the channel about the three Spartan casualties.

"Glad to see you boys," Ivan greeted. "Who are the casualties?" The tone in his voice clearly signified that he was unhappy to ask them about the three missing Spartans.

Faintly lowering his gaze, Porsche replied to his superior officer. "Regendorf, Carboni, and Spade, sir," he said in grief.

Overhearing Porsche's report, Kait approached the three higher ranking Spartans without hesitation. "What? They have Matt?" She cried out in horror. Her mine was left in a momentary trance due to the horrifying news. After snapping out of it, she instantly turned her gaze to Ivan with a panicked expression that could easily be seen through her visor.

"I'm going after him. And you can't stop me, Ivan," she scowled at the superior Spartan.

Ivan fully understood her behavior but he knew that now was not the time to be reckless. In an effort to calm her down, he gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "We don't leave Spartans behind, Kait. We're going to get our boys back," he calmly replied to her.

Ivan's reassuring reply helped Kait ease down a little bit, but she was still visibly shaken up.

Ivan looked around at the rest of the Spartans. "Listen up, Spartans," he announced, receiving their full attention. "The commander ordered me to rescue the missing Spartans by any means necessary. Magnus is currently tracking their whereabouts. So until then, I'm going need several volunteers to go with me on this rescue op. The rest of you are going to hold this position until we come back. Keep the LZ clear in case things get out of hand."

As expected, Kait stepped forward. "I'm going with you whether you like it or not, and you can't stop me."

Her instant reply caused other Spartans, especially those in Fireteam Creedance, to exchange quick glances. Ivan figured that there was literally no way he could stop her. She would go by herself if she really had to. Saying no to her wouldn't refrain her from going which would insubordinate on her part. Ivan decided to allow her to go and he finally nodded. He then looked around at the remaining Spartans.

Matthew McBride, the leader of Fireteam Creedance stepped forward. The rest of the members of his squad stepped forward behind him.

"Count Fireteam Creedance in," he simply stated.

Ivan glanced at him and the rest of his Fireteam. Creedance had a reputation for succeeding in all of their war games simulations and winning almost every Breakout match against the other Fireteams. The members of the Fireteam consisted of Tristan Sparks, Ujwal Babburi, and Davis Wilder. It was a very odd mix up, but they worked well together as a team.

Matthew McBride was by far the most skilled soldier of the three members, especially with hand-to-hand combat and a railgun. His general combat skills were considered to matched with Bame's. His service record as an ex-ODST was fairly remarkable. His squadron nicknamed him Orbit Helios after a strange event that happened during one of his operations on Sanghelios during their civil war. He was rather obscure about how the situation went down, but he kept the nickname.

The next member of Creedance was Tristan Sparks. Even though he was the youngest in the Fireteam, his skills in combat came very natural to him. Hence why he was admitted into the Spartan-IV Program. His temper was certainly not one to be trifled with and he didn't care what people thought of him. He was known to be very sarcastic, questioning, and sometimes outright vulgar. Even so, he very much valued teamwork and was very loyal to his Fireteam. He also looked up to Matthew McBride.

The next member had quite a reputation for his driving skills. Ujwal Babburi specialized in vehicles before he was recruited in Project Omega. Although, McBride often questioned how he even got his driver's license after witnessing Ujwal's driving performance in the war games. He was a very laid back and sarcastic man. Besides vehicles, he preferred using close quarters and explosive weapons.

Lastly, Davis Wilder was the member of Creedance that specialized with long ranged weapons. He proved himself during basic training to be an excellent sharpshooter. However, his skills with a sniper rifle were easily outmatched by Scythe or Porsche. He was a fierce teammate that did what he could to make sure his team was never in a tight situation. At least that's how it was in the war games. The one aspect that he was known to have was that he had a tendency to brown nose up to his superiors, especially Bame. Even so, he was a good Spartan.

Ivan did not doubt Creedance's ability as a team. They knew how to deal with tight situations and they proved that in their simulations. Ivan nodded his head in agreement. He looked over to Thresh who looked like he was going to step forward. Before he lifted his foot, Ivan spoke to him.

"Thresh, I need you to hold this position. Just let me have another one of your squad mates."

Thresh nodded his head. "Got it, sir," he said. He looked over to Quanah nodded to him. "Sage, go on with them. Edwards and I will stay back. Go get our boys back."

Quanah nodded without hesitation and joined up with the rescue team.

"Until then, radio in to The Brigadier and inform them of your findings at the Derelict," Ivan followed up.

"Got it," Thresh nodded.

Porsche had the sudden urge to interject Ivan's rescue operation based on what both his and Bishop's Fireteams went through on their ambush. He then shut his mouth before he could make a suggestion after remembering that his scouting party took out numerous amounts of Xenomorphs at the control room. They must have cut their numbers in half or maybe more. Ivan and his team wouldn't be caught off guard this time. They would be on the offensive. He glanced around at his team and the other Spartans staying at the LZ. There didn't seem to be any objections on the rescue operation.

"Alright, Spartans. Let's get our boys back," Ivan announced.


	5. The Hive

**Date: January 11th, 2559, Unknown Time**

 **Location: Acheron, Hadley's Hope**

A low glutaral crackling noise echoed through the room. The noise was moving closer and closer. Spade slowly opened his eyes and gently lifted his head up a little. He found himself in a very dark room. The only light that barely lit up the room was from the small lights on his Spartan armor. He attempted to move his arms, but his arms as well as the rest of his body were tightly restrained by a black organic shiny chitin that kept him attached to the wall. He moved his head from side to side to get a better understanding of where exactly he was. The room was covered with the shiny black chitin with a few entrances leading to other areas.

Suddenly, the eerie crackling noise echoed through the room catching Spades attention. He turned his head towards the entrance where the noise came from. The crackling noise then changed to hisses, and it was getting closer. Spade immediately started to struggle through the tight grip on the chitin, but he was unable to break free. His heart began to pound uncontrollably as the sound drew near which were then followed by heavy footsteps. Whatever it was, it was big.

A large shield-shaped cranium squeezed through the chitin walls that surrounded the entrance revealing a much larger Xenomorph than the one he saw earlier. It had to be roughly fifteen feet tall. It slowly approached Spade while revealing its inner jaw.

"Holy shit," Spade whispered to himself.

The giant Xenomorph finally was face to face with the Spartan. It cocked its head back and forth, seemingly studying the the mechanical being before it. It brought its massive hand over the Spartan's helmet and grasp it tightly. Spade thoroughly felt the pressure of the Xenomorph's grip through the his helmet and attempted to shake it off. The Xenomorph then slowly lifted his helmet off his head, revealing Spade's human face. The sight of his face seemed to cause the Xenomorph to shriek and chomp its inner jaw.

"You are one ugly motherfu-" Spade's comment was suddenly cut off by the echoes of gunshots in the distance.

The reports of gunfire caused the giant Xenomorph to quickly shift its body towards the gunfire and roar so loudly that it pierced Spade's ears. It then opened its arms in rage, without noticing it cut part of the shiny chitin over Spade's left arm, and stormed out of the room.

Spade immediately struggled to get his left arm free. After a firm push, his arm broke free. He quickly drew his combat knife and started to cut his body free from the chitin. Eventually, the chitin's grip on his body wasn't strong enough which then caused Spade's body to drop down to the ground, face first. He lifted his body and glanced around for his helmet. It was laying to his left and he quickly picked it up. He flipped it over and noticed that the visor was cracked open.

"God damn it," he muttered to himself. He placed back onto his head and studied the HUD's aspects. The left part of his HUD was completely void of information. His motion tracker was haywire along with his compass. This was not good. At all.

He lifted himself up and glanced around the room once again. He notice two strange egg-shaped objects in the corner of the room. His curiosity caused him to slowly approach them with his combat knife drawn. After reaching roughly five feet away from the first egg-shaped object, the top suddenly opened up like a banana peel. He slowly leaned over to see what would be inside.

Without warning, a pale crab-like creature leaped from the egg towards Spade's face and instantly wrapped it's leathery tail around his neck. Spade fell backwards attempting to pull the aggressive creature off his helmet, but couldn't manage to counter its tight grip around his neck. Very soon, the loss of circulation caused his sight to blur and his ears to ring. The last thing he saw was a long appendage coming from the center of the crab-like creature, making an effort to break through his visor. Thankfully, the opening in his visor was not wide enough for the flailing appendage to squeeze through. However, Spade's vision slowly began to black-out due to loss of blood circulation.

With his right hand, he desperately searched around his surroundings for his combat knife. Thankfully, he found the blade, brought it to the creature's tail and began to saw the tail off with as much force as he could. The creature's tail was severed off causing its acid to spray about. Most of the acid was repelled by his armor's shields, but it still landed on his armor, causing it to rapidly corrode. Immediately after taking a deep breath, he pulled the crab-like creature off his face and threw it at the wall next to him.

After dropping to the ground, the creature's body began to twitch repeatedly like a seizure. Spade quickly jumped to his feet and looked at his combat knife which was corroding rapidly. Without hesitation, he thrusted the corroding blade into the center of the crab-like creature's torso, causing it to stop twitching. He quickly glanced back at the other egg, which was still closed, and slowly backed away from it hoping that the parasite within it wouldn't hatch.

Suddenly, he heard more reports of gunshots in the direction of the entrance where the giant Xenomorph went through. The reports weren't particularly close to his position. Either way, he now knew which way to get out of this pit. Very cautiously, he made his way through the threshold of the exit the giant Xenomorph went through. The next room was very similar to a graveyard. The sight before Spade caused him to lose his breath. Attached to the walls of the room, there were numerous decomposing human bodies. A putrid stench leaked through the opening in his visor causing his stomach to churn.

"Holy shit," he gasped.

The bodies seemed to have been undergoing decomposition for months. The skin was almost completely rotted from the body and bones could be seen around the body. Then of course, there was the same hole in their chests that seemed to have bursted open from the inside. Below the heavily decomposing bodies, there were skeletons that closely resembled the crab-like parasite he encountered earlier. There was a skeleton on the ground in front of each of the human corpses.

After taking a closer look at the bodies, Spade realized that these people were not of the UNSC. A few of the corpses still had their military outfits on. On their shoulders, Spade noticed an emblem of a red fist with a stylized "M" just below it.

"Meta Division," he murmured to himself.

Spade glanced down the corpse's side and noticed a handgun in a holster with a few clips and a flashlight around the belt. After mentally thanking the chances, he pulled the handgun out from the holster and pulled the breach back. Thankfully, the weapon was still usable. He took off the belt from the corpse and wrapped it around his waist. He then moved on to the next corpse, hoping that he could find anything else that was useful.

After searching the corpse's pocket, he discovered a data pad with a heavily cracked screen. The data pad's battery was dead, as expected. However, the memory might be recoverable with the help of Magnus. He placed the data pad in a small compartment that was attached to his left leg and moved on to scavenge the next corpse.

Very faintly, he heard a familiar crackling noise just above him. He immediately stopped in his tracks and slowly lifted his head. On the ceiling, he spotted a Xenomorph attached to the chitin. To his surprise, the Xenomorph did not seem to be aware of Spade's presence. It was very calm and still. Spade slowly drew the flashlight from his belt and pointed it up at Xenomorph. He turned the switch which illuminated the most of the room.

The Xenomorph did not seem to be phased by the sudden burst of light. Rather it remained still on the ceiling. Spade took the opportunity to study the creature in more depth. It was slightly smaller than a Sangheili. Its head was more dome-shaped and had a smoother design than the other two Xenomorphs he saw. Its arms and legs were much skinnier and its tail had a short bladed tip at the end of it.

On another note, Spade noticed something very out of place with this serpent in particular. It looked like it was sick or severely fatigued. He did notice that there were parts of the Xenomorph's exoskeleton that had yellowish cysts and lesions growing on it. In addition, the Xenomorph's exterior armor was excessively aged and fragile. At this point, Spade convinced himself that this serpent was harmless, at least it was right now. The last thing he needed to do was to provoke it.

After the long glance, Spade flashed his light around the rest of the room hoping that he could find another way out. After slowly making his way towards another passage way, he noticed that the the metallic floor beneath him was very unstable. He could vaguely see another area just below the floor panels. He took a few steps back away from rusted out floor until his back made physical contact with something. His heart immediately dropped after realizing that what his back made contact with was not a wall. Very slowly and carefully, he turned his body around to see what he made contact with.

The first thing his eyes saw were four inch metallic colored teeth with saliva spilling through the creases. The creature hissed in his face causing his visor to fog up. Spade's body remained frozen hoping that he could refrain from provoking the creature. He very slowly lifted his gaze to see the creatures giant shield-shaped head crest. It was the giant Xenomorph from earlier. Spade knew that he was completely outmatched against the shear size of this bug. There wasn't much he could do. His handgun would be completely ineffective against it. His thoughts began to race around in his head. He thought about his family and the people he cared about, especially Kait. He wondered how the UNSC would notify his loved ones about his death.

This was not a fight he was going to win. But, he wasn't going out without trying.

The Xenomorph let out a deafening shriek and spread its arms out, seeming to get ready to grapple the Spartan. Suddenly, an intense flare of rage and adrenaline flowed through Spade's veins. Fight or flight and he chose to fight. In a blink of an eye, he sucker punched the giant serpent with his left fist then immediately brought his handgun up to its face and proceeded to empty the clip. Each impact from the bullets caused the serpent to stagger backward. However, they did not penetrate the serpent's thick chitin. The Xenomorph roared in anger and thrusted its giant arm at the Spartan's chest, sending him flying back. His impact on the floor panels caused it to break open. Spade fell through the floor into the large area that he saw before. After falling forty feet, he landed in shallow water on his back, making a large splash. Instinctually, he brought himself to his feet and reloaded another clip into his handgun. He glanced up through the hole to see the giant Xenomorph simply looking back at him.

To his surprise, the giant Xenomorph roared and walked away from the hole. The bug's sudden disappearance caused a shock of fear to jolt through his spine. He had a feeling that he would bump into that Xenomorph again soon. His only option was escape this Hive. He pulled out his flashlight and turned the switch. Immediately, the light caught the sight of a very pale looking Xenomorph standing twenty feet away from him. It's exoskeleton was covered with large palish-yellow cysts and lesions. It was waving its head vigorously in his direction and shivering its body like it was struggling to keep itself together. The light from his flashlight did not seem to phase it at all.

The pale bug then began to walk towards him like it was curious as to what was before him. Spade decided to remain very still as the diseased Xenomorph made its way toward him until its scarred-up face stood inches away from his. It let out a few faint hisses and waved its head around. Spade was wondering why it was acting like he wasn't even there. After a few moments, the diseased Xenomorph lost interest and walked away from the Spartan.

Spade waited a few more moments to make sure that the Xenomorph was out of sight. He waved his flashlight around the room which seemed to be a sewer. The sewer was littered with several immobile Xenomorph husks. Some stood like statues in place with their mouths wide open. Spade slowly walked up to one with his handgun drawn and poked at the husk. The husk stayed motionless. He took his flashlight and jabbed the husk in the head, causing it to slightly cave in. Still, the husk remained motionless. They must be dead.

Suddenly, Spade received a faint signal through the communications network. "Spade, where ar-" the signal kept on breaking up, " -ou? Th-", white noise followed every word. "This is Spartan Morales, please respond!"

"Morales, this is Spade. I read you," he eagerly replied back. The signal was weak.

"Spade? What's your pos-zzt-on? We can b-rely read you," Morales' voice called back through the weak signal.

"I'm in some sewer with these husks. I don't know where to go and there's this giant fucking bug chasing my ass."

The signal finally began to clear back up. "Alright, I'm reading you better now. You said you were in a sewer?" Ivan asked him over the coms channel.

"That's right," Spade replied, still wary of his surroundings.

"Watch out for those pale Xenos. If you make too much noise, they will run up to you and explode." _Explode? Well, that is comforting._ "If you come across one, just stay still and it will stroll away. We've noticed that they are only attracted to sound."

"Yeah, I've noticed. I came across one already and it kinda just stood in front of me for a couple moments, then it walked away like I wasn't even here," Spade said.

"Alright good. Anyways, you're not that far in the Hive. Just make your way to the exit of the sewer. There should be arrows that point to it. We are all waiting here at the end. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a good idea for us to meet up with you in the sewers. Those pale bugs would have a better chance at spotting us," Ivan informed.

"I understand, sir. Make sure you watch out for a giant Xeno. It ate an entire clip of pistol rounds like it was nothing," Spade warned as he began to make his way through the sewer.

"Will do. Be careful, Spartan."

He slowly walked through the dirty water searching for any arrows on the walls. After walking past several husks, he spotted an exit arrow on the wall pointing to the left. Spade turned the corner to find three pale Xenomorphs twitching around and hissing near each other. They were blocking the way. Spade stopped in his tracks. _Great, what the hell am I supposed to do now?_ He thought to himself. Near his right foot, a piece of husk was floating. He briefly glanced at the three pale bugs who were still twitching and shrieking, then slowly picked up the piece of husk. He slowly moved away from the entry to the room that he came from and then chucked the husk into that room, causing a loud splash in that room. The splashing noise immediately got their attention. Not a second later, they started sprinting in the direction of the noise, screaming.

Spade immediately realized that he did not give the three pale bugs enough running room. One pale Xeno crashed directly into Spade, sending him off his feet and making a large splash in the water. The splash stopped the three bugs in their tracks and turn their heads back in Spade's direction. They immediately trotted towards the grounded Spartan, who stayed perfectly still in the water. The three bugs moved their heads down inches away from Spade's body. One of them placed one of their pale and frail hands on Spade's back. Shortly after making physical contact, the Xenomorph grabbed the back part of Spade's armor and began to lift the Spartan up. Spade was very close to making a counteracting movement, but he quickly stopped himself thinking that he would have a better chance at surviving this if he just played along.

The Xenomorph struggled but still managed to lift the Spartan up. It shrieked and threw Spade to the side. Spade fell on his back allowing him to see what the Xenomorphs were going to do. They all turned back to the direction where the other splash was and sprinted into that area of the sewer letting out loud screeches and hisses.

At this point, Spade was shaking in his feet and almost completely out of breath. He never has been so scared in his life. He was convinced that the was going to die, again, but he dodged yet another bullet. A small smile formed across his face after realizing what had been happening in this insane op. _Glad to see my luck hasn't run out yet._

He quickly pushed himself to his feet and silently moved away from the commotion in the other room. With his flashlight and his handgun ready, he quietly took short and careful steps through the sewer water hoping to find the way out by following the arrows. The passage was completely littered with Xenomorph husks and old chitin. Stuck on the wall in the chitin, Spade saw many old human bones as well as a few decomposing corpses.

After glancing one of the corpses, he couldn't help but wonder if he was the only Spartan stuck within the Hive. Before he blacked out near the control room, he remembered glancing at several red dots that were moving towards his team's position. He hoped that they held their own in that encounter, but he needed to know.

"Morales, am I the only one in the Hive?" He asked through the communication network.

"No. Regendorf and Carboni were both taken during the firefight. Fireteam Creedance is currently searching for them while Rene, Sage, and I are waiting for you at the end of the sewer," Ivan replied back. "Keep your eyes out for either of them, would ya?"

"No problem. I'll let you know if I find them," Spade replied.

"Thanks, Spade. Be careful. If you get into big trouble, let us know and we will rush in."

"I'll be fine, sir."

After a few more paces, Spade found himself in another large sewage area that had several small openings in the ceiling, most likely for catching back flow. The circular openings were large enough for a Xenomorph to hide in and Spade didn't like that. He could be ambushed at any point. To avoid being jumped by a bug, he chose to stay near the walls rather than walk in the middle of the room.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something metallic in the sewage water that reflected light from his flashlight. Very silently, he moved towards the metal object that was mostly submerged in the sewage water. He reached down into the water, grasped the object, and brought it out of the water. The first thing he saw on the object was the UNSC font. It was a section of the shoulder pad from the grey Recruit Spartan armor. Spade noticed that the piece of armor was still attached to a torn off section of the under armor combat suit.

"Damn."

He turned his gaze into the passageway just ahead. He noticed that the arrows along the wall were pointing in the opposite direction. Behind him, was the passageway to the sewer's exit, but he had to see if one of the Spartans were trapped in this hell hole. After taking a deep breath and readying his handgun, he entered the passageway.

After taking several steps through the sewage water, he came across another intersection in the sewage system. He paused in the center of the intersection glancing through each pathway.

"Great, now what?" He groaned in defeat.

He flashed his flashlight in each pathway hoping to spot anything that would help him make a decision on which path to go down. Suddenly, he spotted another piece of Spartan armor in the pathway to his right. Immediately, he splashed through the water until it leveled off with the ground. He approached the piece of armor and picked it up. It was the rest of the right arm armor pieces that were still attached to sections of the under armor combat suit. Fresh blood traced the smooth grey metallic design of the Spartan armor.

Spade glanced around his surroundings and spotted a small entry hole in the wall that was layered in black slimy chitin. Very carefully, he made his way through the entry hole which brought him to a small room that had a sewage tank and a few pressure valves which were all covered in that shiny black chitin.

Attached to the wall to his right, he discovered one of his teammates unconscious and was also covered in the chitin. He noticed that the Spartan's armor on the right side of his torso and arm was completely torn off. Instinctually, Spade rushed up to the Spartan and started to shake him awake.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said silently while trying to wake him up. He started to pull the chitin off of the Spartan's appendages to break him free.

Finally, the chitin could not hold the Spartan's weight anymore and the Spartan fell into Spade's arms. Spade turned the Spartan over and quickly assessed his wounds. His right arm was torn up with claw marks with blood still spilling out of the lacerations. It was hard to know how long the Spartan has been out cold, but it was obvious as to why he was. Along the bottom side of the Spartan's right arm, there was a long piece of the under armor suit. It was long enough to tie around the Spartan's arm to stop the blood flow to his arm. Very quickly, Spade tied a knot around the Spartan's right arm which did slow the blood flow through his arm. Spade then removed the Spartan's helmet. It was Regendorf. He then began to slap his face, attempting to wake him up.

"Hey, Regendorf, get up," he ordered while shaking the unconscious Spartan.

Regendorf's eyes slowly opened up. "What the-" he murmured. His eyes slowly glanced around his surroundings and then focused on Spade. "Where am I?"

"We're in the Hive, and we need to get out ASAP," Spade replied. "Your arm is messed up pretty bad, but I managed to stop the bleeding."

Regendorf quickly looked down at his right arm and he instantly grimaced as if he just noticed the pain all along his right arm. "Son of a fuckin' bitch, that hurts like fuck," he cried.

"Look, we need to get out of here. The way out isn't far from where we are right now, and I would rather not wait around for a giant bug to bump into us," Spade told the grimacing Spartan.

Regendorf, still grimacing, nodded back at his teammate. "You're right. No sense in sticking around this hell hole."

"You got that right," Spade replied as he helped Regendorf to his feet. Regendorf moved his right arm closer to his body and gripped his left hand tightly around his right bicep. Spade nodded at his teammate. "Just stay close to me, I know the way out. If you see a pale yellow bug with blobs all around its body, freeze and don't move," he informed.

Regendorf gave Spade a confused expression. "Wait, look for what exactly?"

Spade brought his hand up. "Trust me. If you see one, just stay still. They won't hurt us if we stay quiet. They are only drawn to sound."

Regendorf just rose an eyebrow. "Okay, whatever you say buddy."

"Okay, just stick close to me."

The two Spartans exited the room through the opening, entering back into the sewer. Spade activated his flashlight and flashed the light down the passageway. There was nothing in sight and the two Spartans resumed walking in the sewer. Their feet entered the muggy sewage water. The two moved towards the intersection and stopped. Spade flashed his light down each passageway. In the right passageway, he noticed something very shiny in the distance, by it was not metallic like the Spartan armor was. He immediately froze and tapped Regendorf.

"What is it?" Regendorf whispered.

Spade squinted his eyes and tried to study the anomaly closer, but was fairly far away from him. "I don't know, I see something over there," he whispered back while pointing down the right passageway. "Look, the exit to this sewer is a straight shot down the left passageway. We need to get out of here quickly."

The two Spartans slowly made their way down the left passageway. Spade kept watching the strange object in the distance. After several paces, the two Spartans found themselves in the middle of the room that had the multiple openings on the ceiling. They climbed up on the mound of debris and husks until they reached the top. Regendorf finally noticed several of the husks and was taken aback by the husks' presence.

"You were referring to these _things_ back there, right?" He whispered to Spade.

Spade glanced around at the Xenomorph husks and shook his head. "Nah, these bugs are dead. However, the sick bugs could be acting like these husks, so stay-"

He was cut off by a hiss from a husk that was only a few feet away from the two Spartans. The husk started to move from the stationary position it was initially in and moved its diseased head towards the two Spartans. It brought itself to its feet and moved closer to Regendorf, who was stay very still like Spade said. Regendorf closely examined the Xenomorph's movements. It was not very interested in either of the Spartans. It then turn its head away from the two Spartans. Spade took the time to turn his body around towards the passageway to see the anomaly. He flashed his light down the passageway.

His eyes widened at what he saw down the passageway. The anomaly was slowly moving its way towards the two Spartans very quietly by lightly submerging its arms in the water with every step without making any noise. As it got closer, Spade slowly began to recognize the anomaly. It was the giant Xenomorph he encountered earlier. He quickly turned his face over to Regendorf, who was still studying the diseased Xenomorph only a couple feet away from them.

"Regendorf," he whispered as quietly he could, but did not manage to get his teammate's attention. He took a step towards him and tapped him on the arm. Regendorf turned his head to Spade.

"On my mark, push the bug down with as much force as you can and run down that way," he ordered him while pointing down the passageway that led to the sewer's exit. Regendorf was confused as to why. "Just do it."

Spade glanced back down the passageway to see the giant Xenomorph slowly making its way towards them. It was roughly sixty yards away from them. He knew that the giant Xenomorph was aware of them. The only chance they had now was to run for it. He nodded to Regendorf. "Now!"

With all the strength he had, Regendorf pushed the diseased Xenomorph down the mound and the two Spartans started to run in the direction towards the passage. The diseased Xenomorph let out a pained screech and began to flip and toss in the water, caused a lot of noise. That noise was cut off by a large roar that came from behind the mound. Spade turned around while still running for the exit to see the giant Xenomorph roaring on top of the mound that the two Spartans were standing not a minute ago.

"Keep running!" Spade yelled out.

The giant Xenomorph roared in anger and immediately chased after its prey on all fours as fast as it possibly could. Spade glanced back to find that the giant Xenomorph was rapidly closing in on them. He turned back around to see the exit of the sewer which was closed up. The two Spartans reached the exit and started to look around for any other clans exit, but they were cornered.

"Spade, we can hear you! We are just on the other side of the clan exit. Can you get through?" Ivan called through the communication network.

"No! We're trapped here and there's a big fucking bug charging at us right now!" Spade yelled back.

There almost no time to make a plan. He glanced around for anything to defend himself, then remembered to draw his handgun. The giant Xenomorph was just about to reach them at full speed. At this speed, it seemed like it was going to ram Spade with its giant crested head. Suddenly, an idea popped in Spade's head and he pushed Regendorf to the corner. He turned back to the Xenomorph and started to empty his clip at the behemoth.

"Ivan, get your men to stand away from the entrance now and get your weapons ready!" He ordered his superior officer.

The giant Xenomorph finally leaped towards the Spartan at full force. Just before the fatal impact, Spade rolled to his left, allowing the giant bug to penetrate the entrance with its crested head. The shear impact of the ram bursted the metallic door completely open. The giant Xenomorph's momentum caused it to be launched through the door and landing just inches away from the Spartan rescue team.

"What the fuck?" Quanah yelled out in shock.

Ivan, Kait, and Quanah all began to open fire on the giant Xenomorph with their basic weaponry. The giant Xenomorph's armor was effortlessly deflecting the incoming waves of bullets. It brought itself to its feet and roared at the surrounding Spartans.

Spade quickly ran towards Regendorf and brought him to his feet. He glanced back into the sewer's passageway to see three diseased Xenomorph's running towards them. He aimed down the sights of his handgun and started to empty the rest of his clip. One of his rounds impacted the closest bug's head. Its body ragdolled forward and exploded, causing the other two bugs to stagger away from the blast. Spade quickly changed to his last clip for to his handgun and proceeded to finish off the other two diseased bugs.

The two Spartans then entered the scene where the giant Xenomorph was attempting to gain the upper hand from the waves of bullets impacting its hard armor. Spade held onto Regendorf's shoulder and quickly made guided his teammate to safety. He noticed a small stairway that lead up. He pushed Regendorf towards the stairs and pointed up.

"Get to safety! Radio in to Fireteam Creedance! They'll let you know where they are! We will take care of the giant bug!" He ordered his teammate. Regendorf was visibly hesitant at the order because he wanted to help out in any way he could. However, he obeyed the order and started to climb up the stairs.

Spade quickly turned around to see the giant bug swiping its giant arms around at the other three Spartans. He rolled his body, dodging a swipe, over behind Kait. Immediately, he pulled her secondary weapon off of her back which was a flamethrower, then powered the flame up. He started to barbecue the giant Xenomorph with a large ray of flame causing it to scream out in anger and take several steps back. The three other Spartans quickly moved next to Spade with their weapons aimed at the giant Xenomorph.

"Ivan, we can't take this thing on alone with the weapons we have. Please tell me that Creedance has better ordinance than us," Spade asked his superior. The giant Xenomorph swayed its giant body back and forth, letting off a few more roars. It was waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"Sparks and Babburi are both carrying weapons that could potentially bring this creature down," Ivan quickly replied.

Spade thought about what he could do to get him and the rest of his team to retreat. The stairway was clearly too small for the giant Xenomorph to fit through, but it would not keep it away forever. However, it would buy the Spartans more time to regroup.

"On my mark, retreat up the stairs, everyone," Spade ordered. The giant Xenomorph took another step towards the Spartans and hissed.

"Got it," Ivan said. The other two Spartans agreed to his order.

"You better be behind us, Matt," Kait said back.

"Don't worry, I have a plan, Kait," he replied and gave her a reassuring expression. She hesitantly nodded and looked back at the giant Xenomorph.

"Go!" Spade yelled and immediately started to light up the behemoth.

The behemoth roared out in pain and waved its arms around which gave the three Spartans enough time to run up the stairs. Spade slowly made his way up the stairs while continuing to send rays of flame at the behemoth. Suddenly, the flames ceased to exit from the end of the barrel. He glanced at the ammunition meter and saw that there was no more fuel left inside the canister. He dropped the flamethrower and pulled his handgun out. The giant Xenomorph roared back at the Spartan in rage and charged at him. Its crested head smashed into the stairway which compromises the strength of the metal support beams that held the stairway up.

The steps beneath Spade fell underneath his feet, but he managed to grab ahold of the landing to the next level. The Xenomorph brought its head up at the dangling Spartan who was holding on for dear life. It showed its inner jaw to the Spartan. Spade immediately brought his handgun up, stuck the end of the barrel inside the bug's mouth, and pulled the trigger. The bullet penetrated the behemoth's inner jaw and deformed it entirely. The behemoth screamed out in pain and backed away from Spade.

Spade took the time to pull himself up to the next level to rejoin his team. He noticed Ivan, Kait, Quanah, and Regendorf trying to catch their breath.

"Regendorf, did you contact Creedance?" Spade asked.

"They told me that they are on their way back with Carboni. They should be here momentarily," Regendorf replied while still grimacing from the wounds along his right arm.

Suddenly, the floor below them started taking impacts. The behemoth let out deafening gurgling roars after every attempt to break the ground beneath them. Spade listen to the metallic floor crack after every impact. He figured that the floor could only withstand a few more impacts until it burst open.

"Which way is the way out?" Spade asked Ivan.

"That way," Ivan replied pointing down the hallway. "Straight shot to the exit."

"We can't wait for Creedance. We gotta go now!" Spade yelled.

Spade helped Regendorf with his footing, who was still struggling with to stay standing from blood loss. Spade wrapped Regendorf's left arm around his shoulders and began to run down the hallway. The rest of the Spartans followed closely behind Spade and Regendorf.

"Fireteam Creedance, this is Morales. We are being chased by a large Xenomorph and we retreating back to the rally point Alpha!" Ivan yelled through the radio.

"Acknowledged, Morales. We are picking up the pace," McBride replied back through the radio.

Suddenly, the giant Xenomorph broke through the floor and crawled through the hole. It roared at the top of its lungs and immediately started to sprint after the retreating Spartan party. Thankfully, the Spartans were approaching the exit which led outside the complex. They quickly went through the door and ran to a piece of cover. Ivan slammed the door shut and joined Quanah behind cover. The Spartans focused their weapons on the door for a few moments. Muffled roars from the giant Xenomorph echoed around the complex.

"Brigadier, this is Spartan Morales. Requesting evac ASAP. We found the missing Spartans, but we are being engaged by a giant Xenomorph at rally point Alpha," Ivan called to the Brigadier.

"Understood, Morales. A pelican will arrive to rally point Alpha. ETA: ten minutes," the dispatcher replied back.

Suddenly, the door bursted open revealing the giant Xenomorph. Seeing the Xenomorph in the open allowed the Spartans to have a much better look than before. It was massive. It roared at the top of its lungs and focused its gaze on Spade. Acid was dripping out from its mouth. There was no doubt that it recognized Spade, especially since he was the one who pissed it off the most.

Spade checked the clip for his handgun. He only had six left on reserve with one in the chamber. There wasn't much he could do to take the behemoth down. Even the weapons that the other three Spartans had were virtually useless against it. Spade had to buy his team some time. He stood up, leaving Regendorf sitting behind cover. Spade didn't know what exactly he was gonna do, but he had to buy time. He glanced over to Quanah who was ready to unload on the bug and noticed that his secondary weapon was an assault rifle. It was better than what he.

"Sage, throw me your AR," Spade ordered.

Sage immediately nodded and threw his AR to Spade. There wasn't enough time to ask him for anymore magazines. He's going to have to use the thirty-six rounds given to him as effectively as he could. He pulled the bolt back and aimed at the big Xenomorph.

"You want me? Huh?" He taunted the giant Xenomorph as he took a few steps out into the open.

"What are you doing, Spade?" Ivan asked, clearly upset as to what he thought Spade was going to do.

"Buying you time. It wants me," Spade replied.

"No! You're not sacrificing yourself," Kait yelled back, which earned her a glance from the Xenomorph. Fear stirred in her gut causing her to be silent and she took a step away from the cover.

"Hey hey hey, over here, fuckface," Spade sneered at the giant Xenomorph. The bug turned back to him and roared.

"Yeah, keep your eyes focused here, you piece of shit," Spade taunted again.

There was a Mexican Standoff between the behemoth and the rest of the Spartans. After a moment, it continued to take steps towards Spade with its arms extended out. It was now or never.

Spade opened fire on the behemoth, sending short controlled bursts at its crest-shaped head. The impacts from each bullet were ineffective. The rest of the Spartans followed Spade's lead and opened fire on it. The Xenomorph roared in anger and swiped its tail at Spade in a blink of an eye. Spade couldn't dodge the attack in time and the impact from its tail sent him flying back towards the side of the complex just next to the opening it made. The behemoth hissed and ran up to the Spartan. It grabbed the Spartan by the neck and brought him up a few feet over the ground.

"No!" Kait yelled out in horror. She sprinted out from cover towards the Xenomorph with her SMG blazing. The bug quickly glanced back at her and swiped its tail at her torso with immense power. The impact sent her flying back, landing against the cover she was previously hiding behind.

Quanah and Ivan both ran out from cover still unloading on the behemoth. The Xenomorph roared at them and chucked Spade at Ivan, sending them both back. Quanah was standing alone between his teammates and the giant Xenomorph. It then swiped its arms at the Spartan. Quanah rolled and evaded the attacks, but he couldn't evade long enough because he was losing his breath. He resumed with firing his BR at the Xenomorph.

Without warning, the giant Xenomorph whipped Quanah's BR right out of his hands with its tail leaving him defenseless. The bug then grappled the Spartan with both of its hands and brought him up closer to its face. It opened its mouth, revealing its deformed inner jaw which was still spewing acid. It let out a deafening shriek that spat acid all over the Spartan. Initially, his shields were able to suppress the highly corrosive substance. However, it wasn't long until the acid made contact with his armor. As a result, his armor began to dissipate. Quanah suddenly let out a loud cry of agony the second the acid corroded through his under armor suit that led to his skin.

The giant Xenomorph shrieked in annoyance after realizing that it couldn't perform its finishing move. It then brought the Spartan up higher and instantly thrusted its bladed tail up at the Spartan. Its tail impaled right through Quanah's gut. The giant Xenomorph hissed in victory and brought its arms down, allowing its tail to hold the Spartan up in the air.

Quanah coughed up blood and slowly removed his helmet to see the bug face to face. He dropped his helmet on the ground and glared back at the bug.

"Fuck ye," he gurgled. The Xenomorph hissed in reply.

Suddenly, an explosion went off on the Xenomorph's crested head followed by three more guided missiles that also detonated at the same spot. The Xenomorph screeched in agony and the explosions caused it to be launched back several feet. Quanah was detached from the end of its tail and fell to the ground on his back. He turned his head to see that Fireteam Creedance finally entered the scene.

Spartan Babburi reloaded guided missiles into his Hydra Launcher. Spartan Sparks wielded the most effective SAW variant called _The Answer._ Carboni, who looked like he has seen better days, was holding an SMG with a COG sight, most likely given to him by Sparks. McBride and Wilder were both carrying BRs. McBride pointed at the giant Xenomorph.

"Unload on that bastard, boys," McBride ordered his team.

Sparks was the first to rain hell onto the Xenomorph with his _Answer's_ explosive rounds. Each round detonated around the Xenomorph's body. The rest of the Spartans followed suit by sending waves of bullets and missiles at the bug.

"Aim for the legs!" McBride called out to Sparks.

"Got it," the young Spartan replied and immediately directed his waves of fire towards the giant bug's legs.

The explosive rounds were slowly tearing up the bug's legs until they were both blown off. The Xenomorph roared in pain. Then to each of the Spartan's surprise, the Xenomorph began to crawl towards them in a surprisingly fast pace. Even without its legs, it still was hell bent on killing the Spartans. When it crawled close enough, it swiped its tail horizontally which smacked Sparks and Ujwal pretty hard in the chest, sending them flying back and dropping their heavy weapons. After confirming that the two most dangerous opponents were incapacitated for the time being, it then turned its gaze towards McBride and hissed. Its long tail whipped in the air and thrusted it at lightning speed towards the Spartan leader. McBride was able to evade the attack in the knick of time. However, the Xenomorph hooked its tail around and pulled the Spartan in towards the Xenomorph.

"No!" Wilder yelled out in horror. He dashed in towards the Xenomorph, still unloading bursts of rounds at its head.

The Xenomorph quickly turned its gaze to Wilder and thrusted its tail directly at the Spartan without warning. Wilder was unable to react in time and the force and speed of the tail plunged right through the upper part of his chest. Wilder dropped his BR and grabbed ahold of the slimy tail. The Xenomorph pulled the Spartan to its face and hissed, spewing drool mixed with acid. The acid immediately started to melt through his visor and parts of his helmet. McBride staggered to his feet and searched for his weapon, but was suddenly brought back to the ground by the Xenomorph's arm keeping him pinned on the ground.

Wilder yelled out in pain and agony. Blood started to spill out from his mouth and suddenly he realized that couldn't inhale anymore breaths of air. The tail must have punctured his lungs. This was it for him. He wasn't going to survive today, but would be damned if this fucking bug killed anymore of his teammates. With a smile across his face, he pulled out two grenades with both hands. The Xenomorph cocked its head as to what its prey was doing, so it let out a deafening roar in the Spartan's face.

"Eat this, you ugly piece of shit," he stated with a smile across his face.

Without any hesitation, he activated both grenades and jammed both of them inside the Xenomorph's mouth.

"See you in hell," Wilder jeered. He kept his arms inside the Xenomorph's mouth and closed his eyes to wait for the inevitable blast.

After a disturbed shriek, the Xenomorph's giant crest-shaped head exploded into several smaller pieces. The explosion engulfed both Wilder and McBride. Wilder was launched away from the blast with part of the Xenomorph's tail still impaled through his chest. McBride suffered severe damage from the explosion and the sheer weight of Xeno body parts collapsing on top of his body. Acid was spewing out from the bug's body parts which was dripping onto his armor causing the metal to corrode. The Xenomorph's head was completely blown off its shoulders. All that was left was its body. The arms and tail were also blown off from the blast.

The remaining members of Fireteam Creedance quickly rushed to the aftermath of the blast to find McBride unconscious on the ground. Both of the Spartans quickly started to push remnants of the Xenomorph off of McBride's body. Finally, they were able to pull their leader out of the rubble to a safer distance and assess his injuries. McBride laid motionless on the ground. The backside of his torso armor experienced severe damage from the blast as well as acid corrosion. Sparks attempted to shake him awake as Ujwal began to patch up his wounds.

Carboni ran to the remains of Spartan Wilder. His entire right arm was missing from his body, his left hand was blown off, and his chest armor was all torn up with part of the Xenomorph's tail still plunged through his chest. Carboni immediately pulled off the Spartan's helmet and checked for a pulse. After waiting what seemed to feel like an eternity, he did not feel a pulse. He was gone. Carboni leaned back from his former teammate and brought his hands up to the top of his helmet.

Spade slowly brought himself to his feet, still attempting to catch his breath after having the wind knocked out of him. Next to him, Ivan was still on the ground coughing. He shook his head and immediately called in the communications network to the drop ship. Spade turned his head to see Kait on the ground motionless. Without hesitation, he sprinted towards her and flipped her body over. After removing her helmet, he immediately checked for a pulse on her neck. The slight harmonic pulsating blood flow in her neck allowed Spade to let out a relieved exhale and lower his head. After thanking whatever god for allowing her to stay alive, he began to shake her body back and forth, attempting to get her awake.

"Kait, wake up," he said in a shaky tone.

Her eyes flickered open and she took in a sharp inhale. She instantly scurried around her surroundings for her weapon with an expression of sheer horror, believing that the fight was still going on.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay. It's over," Spade reassured. "It's alright."

She was still panting but finally eased her body down. She couldn't get herself to say any words. Spade glanced around and noticed Quanah also on the ground with both of his hands holding his chest. Spade looked back to his significant other. "Catch your breath, Kait. I need to go check out Sage." Kait closed her eyes and nodded her head.

Spade patted her shoulder and quickly ran over to Quanah. His heart dropped when he realized what he saw before him. There was a large hole in Quanah's gut which was bleeding profusely. Quanah's entire body was shaking, making every attempt to keep itself alive. Without hesitation, he threw his helmet off, dropped to his knees and pressed his left hand over the Spartan's severe wound.

"Sage, you're gonna be alright. You hear me?" He said in distress. Quanah shakily removed his helmet and struggled to look at Spade.

"I-I'm all g-good, Matt," Quanah shakily replied with blood spurting out from his mouth. He slowly reached his hand out towards Spade and Spade instantly grabbed ahold of it with his right hand.

Spade began to nod his head. "Yeah, that's right. You're lookin' real good, buddy. Just stay with me. Don't let go of my hand, you hear?"

"Y'know," Quanah began to say, "you didn't h-have to-"

Spade shook his head and shushed him up. "Don't talk, buddy. Just keep your eyes on me and focus on your breathing," he ordered his friend.

Quanah slowly shook his head. "N-no no, this i-is it for me," he replied seemingly coming to peace with what he thought was going to happen.

Spade quickly shook his head. "No, you're not gonna die here, Quanah! We need a badass like yourself in Omega. You hear me?"

Suddenly, the engines of the pelican echoed through the air. Spade turned his head to see it slowly lower to the ground. Marines piled out of the back of the drop ship. Spade waved his arm at them. "Corpsman!" He yelled at them. Two marines immediately started running towards the two Spartans.

Tears started to form in Quanah's eyes. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Matt," he whispered.

Spade looked back at him with a confused expression. "Don't be sorry. You did nothing wrong, Quanah. You understand me?"

Quanah shook his head. "No! I w-wish," he coughed up blood. "I-I wish I coulda h-helped ya guys more," he whispered regretfully. "I'm s-so s-sorry I wasn't much of a help."

Spade grasped Quanah's hand tighter and shook his head. "You have _nothing_ to be sorry about! What happened was completely out of your control!"

The two marines finally arrived their position and immediately began to tend to Quanah's severe wound. They injected copious amounts of biofoam in the opening in his chest, but it wasn't enough. Quanah's eyes were slowly closing and his grip on Spade's hand was beginning to ease down until it had no grip at all. His eyes were now closed and his hand fell to the ground. His body ceased to shiver. Spade's eyes widened at what he witnessed.

"No! Don't you die on me, Quanah!" He yelled out in horror.

The corpsman pushed Spade back away from Quanah's body. "Sir, you need to get back." The other corpsman pulled out a defibrillator from his first-aid kit. He turned it on and rubbed the two handles together to create a charge. He placed the two handle devices over Quanah's chest.

"Clear!"

The devices smacked down over his armor, sending an electric charge throughout his body. The corpsman checked for a pulse on Quanah's neck. After a couple seconds, the corpsman shook his head.

"Do it again!" Spade ordered in desperation.

The corpsman rubbed the devices together once again and moved the devices over Quanah's body once again.

"Clear!"

Another jolt was sent through his body once again. Still, there was no response.

"Again!"

The corpsman looked up at Spade with a sorrowful expression. "Sir, he's gone. There's nothing more we could do."

Spade raised his arms up on top of his helmet. Grief and anger flowed through his veins and he started to pace back and forth next to his fallen comrade. He looked down at Quanah's lifeless body and shook his head, not knowing what to do. He felt completely helpless. He looked down at his helmet and immediately kicked it away with as much force he could muster. The intense feeling of grief and sadness rushed through his body causing him to fall to his knees.

Ivan walked up to him after realizing what had happened. There was much he could say to ease Spade's pain, but he had to evac as soon as possible. He rested a hand on Spade's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in sorrow.

Spade said nothing in reply.

"We need to get outta here before more Xenomorph's show up," Ivan stated to him as easily as he could put it.

Spade watched as several marines hulled his fallen comrade towards the pelican. He glanced over to Kait who was crying after seeing her teammate and friend. She couldn't bare to see him like this, but wanted to show him some respect by helping the marines, who were clearly having a tough time pulling the heavy Spartan armor onto the ship. Spade turned his gaze towards the Xenomorph's corpse. A strong sense of hate filled his heart for the entire species.

"C'mon, Matt. We gotta go," Ivan said again after patting Spade's shoulder again.

After a long moment, Spade nodded and struggled to get to his feet. Ivan grabbed his hand and pulled him up. The two Spartans made their way into the Pelican's bay door. Spade noticed another fallen Spartan next to Quanah's lifeless body. It was Davis Wilder from Fireteam Creedance. He shook his head in anger.

"All for a fucking scouting mission," he hissed.

Ivan pretended to not hear his comment. Spade glanced at the rest of the Spartans. Carboni was being tended to by one of the corpsman. As far as Spade knew, Carboni was in a similar condition as himself. He then glanced over to Regendorf who was visibly weak from blood loss. Another corpsman continued to wrap his arm with the bandages in order to stop the bleeding. The blood was seeping through the wrappings fairly quickly. Next to Regendorf, Sparks was tending to McBride's wounds who was still unconscious. Ujwal was sitting next to Wilder's corpse his head down. Kait was kneeling over Quanah's body with tears still dripping from her eyes. The rear end of the pelican closed up and the drop ship began to fly away from Hadley's Hope.

Ivan shook his head and radioed into _The Brigadier_. "Brigadier, this is Spartan Morales reporting in. We have all of the missing Spartans. However," he stated and then let out a defeated exhale. "We have two fatalities. Spartans Sage and Wilder."

There was a short silence in the network.

"I understand, Spartan. I'm glad you got our boys back," Bame's voice replied back. "I know this isn't a good time to ask, but was there anything else you found during the rescue op?"

Ivan shook his head. "No, sir."

Spade suddenly remembered the broken data pad he salvaged from the dead innie and he pulled it out of the compartment attached to his leg. "Permission to speak," he asked on the same channel.

"Granted," Bame simply replied.

"I came across several heavily decomposed innie bodies when I was in that Hive. They must have been dead for several months. Anyways, I salvaged a broken data pad from an innie commander. There's no battery left, but I figured Magnus could extract files from it," Spade replied.

"I'm sure he could. Right Magnus?" Bame asked through the channel.

"I wouldn't be a great AI if I couldn't. I'll have a look at it when you get back," Magnus replied back.

"Thanks, Magnus," Bame said back.

"There better be some valuable info on that data pad," Spade commented out of impulse.

Snow's transponder suddenly opened up. "If we don't find anything on it, then you're all going back down there again. We aren't leaving LV-426 until we get valuable information. You understand me, Spartan Spade?"

Spade clenched his fists and lowered his eyebrows at the order. "Yes, sir."

"Good. We will fill you all in when we do find something. Snow out." His transponder closed in the network.

"Was there anything else, Spade?" Bame asked him.

"One more thing, and it's out of curiosity."

"Ask away, Spartan."

"That giant bug that we fought, do you know what that was?" Spade asked in curiosity. He noticed the other Spartans in the pelican turn their heads toward him seeming to also find out what kind of Xeno that was.

After a moment of silence, Commander Bame replied back through the channel. "I've never seen anything like that. However, it looks remarkably like a Queen with that crest-shaped head, but this one is a little smaller."

"If I may, Commander. I found a file from the Naval Intelligence," Magnus interrupted.

"Let's hear it, Magnus," Bame replied.

Magnus pulled up the file from ONI and began to read it. "The file tells me about a few reports from Wildfire about a large Xenomorph with a large crest-shaped head that a few unfortunate marine platoons came across. Also, judging on the file you reported, Commander, about the Queen, and ONI already made this connection, the big Xenomorph you Spartans encountered is comparable to a new queen from an ant colony, just based off of appearance and size. Although, this strain acts more like a warrior ant. Particularly a warrior ant that directly protects the Queen. So, ONI goes into detail about what they theorize what their actual purpose is in the Hive and they came to a conclusion that this Xenomorph acts as a personal guard of the Queen and her Hive. However, their secondary purpose is that if the Queen is killed, one of them will take her place. Anyways, ONI calls this strain of Xenomorphs, Praetorian Guards or just Praetorians."

"A Praetorian?" Spade asked.

"Correct. A Praetorian matches the description to the Xenomorph you encountered," Magnus replied back.

"Anything else, Spade?" Bame asked him one more time.

"That's all, Commander," Spade replied back.

"Alright. See you back on _The Brigadier,_ Spartans," Bame said as he closed his transponder.

Spade thought more into depth about his encounter with the Praetorian. It was much smarter than the other Xenomorphs he encountered. It was able to keep grudges which was what other intelligent species normally did. Also, it had a tendency to toy with its prey which was ultimately led to its demise. He was glad that it wasn't all animalistic, otherwise it could have killed more of his teammates. He looked down at Kait who was still mourning Quanah's death. She looked back at him with teary eyes. Spade brought out his hand to her and she grasped it. Her forehead lowered onto his hand and she continued to weep. Spade lowered his head. This was only the first mission. Who knows what the rest what look like?


	6. Grief

**Date: January 18th, 2559, 1200 hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

 **Event: Funeral**

The sky was clear of any clouds which allowed the light of the crimson colored dwarf star to peek through. Calming melodies from the indigenous birds danced through the breezing wind. A brisk yet peaceful gust of air sailed through the grassy plains in the distance like soft ocean waves. The light emanating from the star lit up the plains with the colorful natural display of the ecosystem. It truly was a beautiful day.

Despite the tenderness from the atmosphere, the air around the Spartans felt heavy with grief and sorrow. Eric looked at the expressions on his Spartans' faces. Most of them possessed stern or troubled complexions, still keeping their emotions relatively at bay. However, there were a few that couldn't help but display pained emotions, Rene especially. Bame was glad to see that Regendorf, Carboni, and McBride were able to attend the funeral. He was surprised when he saw Regendorf standing at attention with the rest of the Spartans even after his right arm was amputated. It was clear that he felt obligated to attend the funeral with or without his arm, and Eric admired his strength. The same admiration also transferred over to McBride, who was restricted to a wheelchair. His injuries were so substantial to the point where the doctors thought he was bound to suffer major cases of amnesia. Thankfully, when he woke up, he only suffered from a severe concussion.

Eric watched solemnly as the pallbearers carried the two dark wood, carbon fiber hybrid caskets towards their grave sites. This location will be Wilder's and Sage's eternal physical resting place. Spade and Thresh volunteered to be pallbearers for Sage's casket, Babburi and Ivan for Wilder's. Once they lowered the caskets onto the lifts over the burial sites and returned to their posts, Eric began to make his way to the front to face the cluster of Spartans.

He cleared his throat, and glanced at the Spartans, outfitted in their dress uniforms, standing before him. "At ease," He said. The ranks of Spartans transitioned from attention to a relaxed stance, with their legs apart, and arms to the smalls of their backs. Bame pulled a small piece of paper from his left breast pocket of his uniform. After letting out a pained exhale through his nose, he unfolded the sheet revealing his notes that he scratched down during the flight from the _Brigadier._ With all eyes on him, he continued:

"Thank you for joining us today, as we remember the sacrifice of Quanah R. Sage, and Davis J. Wilder." He closed his eyes briefly, and released a deep sigh. "At 18:11, January 11th, 2559, our brothers fought valiantly and sacrificed their lives to save their companions. Their actions were heroic and were not done in malicious intent nor self gain. For that, we honor them. We honor them for their bravery, their selflessness, and their dedication. While they no longer are with us in this life, this does not mean they will be forgotten. Do not say: 'they are no more,' out of grief, but live out of thankfulness that they were. As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as we remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength, we remember them. When we are lost and sick at heart, we remember them. When we have achievements, we remember them. When we celebrate, we honor them. Because of their actions, they will forever be acknowledged as heroes in this war to the world, but to us, they are our brethren. May they rest in peace."

At that, Bame turned and nodded to a marine to his left, also in his dress uniform. The marine snapped to attention, executed a left face, and marched toward a group consisting of seven riflemen bearing DMR's with iron sights.

The marine halted a few paces away and shouted, "READY!"

Immediately, the riflemen simultaneously chambered a round into their rifles.

"AIM!"

They snapped their rifles in the opposite direction of the funeral, pointing them towards the horizon at a thirty-seven degree angle.

"FIRE!"

Without delay, a massive boom echoed throughout the plains as all seven rifles discharged at the same instant. This process was repeated three times total. Once the roar of the blasts dissipated, Bame allowed for a moment a silence among the Spartans. After that, he turned back to them and started to address to him.

"ETA to the _Brigadier_ is in forty-five minutes. Take this time to pay your respects if you so choose."

Bame stood to the side, observing each Spartan approach the caskets. Most stood near to them, engaging in small talk with low tones. Some were next to the caskets, some portraying smiles on their faces, reminiscing on the joyful moments shared with their fallen comrades. Others displayed sadness, refusing to accept the loss of their compatriots. Bame noticed Kait come up to Quanah's casket with a white rose in her hand. She placed her free hand on the dark oak as she closed her eyes, fighting back tears. Spade, previously engaged in a conversation with Thresh, Porsche, and McBride, walked over and wrapped his arm around her. Kait leaned her head on his shoulder and continued to hold back tears. Bame received an audio call through his earpiece from the pilot of one of the pelicans that transported them to the surface.

"Sir, engines are hot and awaiting orders." The pilot said.

"Understood, we are on our way." Bame replied solemnly. Ivan overheard his conversation and walked over to meet him.

"Time to rally the troops, sir?" He asked.

Bame gave a slow nod in response. He glanced over to Ivan with a pained expressions across his face. After a brief moment of silence, he replied back to Ivan.

"Time to get back to work." His voice was low and stern.

Ivan nodded then walked over to the group of Spartans and quietly advised them to begin heading to their respective pelicans. As the group began to shuffle towards the LZ, Kait and Spade were the last to leave Quanah's grave site. Once they managed to break away from the grave site, Kait laid the rose on the casket and kissed the dark oak lid.

 **Date: January 23rd, 2559, 1800 hours**

 **Location: Vindication-Class Battleship** **The Brigadier**

There was still a heavy sense of grief in Eric's gut about the aftermath on LV-426. The deaths of two of his Spartans weighed heavy on his conscious and he felt that it was wrong to justify what had occurred by saying that their deaths helped Omega gain extremely valuable intelligence on the Meta Division. Despite the fact that it was true, it still was something very cliché for any commander to tell his troops. The information they gathered from both the extracted data from the control room and the intel that Magnus was able to recover from the broken innie data pad was critical in the search for the Meta Division strongholds and Blackwater himself.

Even so, Eric still scolded himself for not giving the benefit of the doubt about the Xenomorph presence on LV-426, but there was no reason for him to dwell on the past. At least that's how he justified it, but he couldn't quite convince his consciousness to agree. He figured at this point that some of the Spartans now doubted his leadership, but again, there wasn't much he could do about that. This is war. And in war, people die.

He reflected back to a certain comment from Senior Chief Mendez that he said to him back during training on Onyx in 2546.

 _G-015,_ He referred to Eric by his service tag. _You show promise to be a Spartan, at least with your skills in combat. But damn, son. You make Jorge look like a heartless sonuva bitch! You need to stow those emotions! If you're gonna be half the Spartan Kurt is, you're gonna have to lose them. Otherwise, you're not gonna make quick choices in extremely pressured situations! You think those alien fucks give a shit if you care about your teammates? Of course not! Throw those emotions away and focus on the mission. Understood?_

Mendez's comment was still vivid in his mind to this day. Eric wondered if he was right. He wondered if his emotions caused any deaths. His mind reflected six years after Mendez's comment to the third week during the fall of Reach. He was part of the only team from Gamma Company that was stationed on Reach when the Covenant attacked. In that mission, he struggled to allow his fellow soldiers and teammates die so that he and his team could live to fight another day. Without any warning, the incident began to reply through his head.

 _Deafening, ground shaking noises of countless engines roared throughout the plains. Sitting in the passenger seat of his warthog with two his teammates of Team Scimitar, Eric looked around at giant military force that consisted of warthogs, tanks, hornets, and falcons engaging the Covenant occupied region in the Viery Territory. Eric loaded his rocket launcher and pointed it down range._

" _Tip of the spear, boys," his team leader, Rob G-102 announced through the radio. He was driving the warthog Eric was in. He slightly turned his gaze to Eric and nodded. "Remember our orders, Mako Convoy. Noble team will be taking out the Covie tower in the east. Our job is to take out the closest tower in the west. Let's plunge through their main line and quickly take that out. Alright?"_

" _Yes sir!" Several radio frequencies replied back._

 _Rob then looked over to Eric and patted his shoulder. "You'll be alright, kid. Just remember your training."_

" _You got it, sir," Eric replied back._

 _The next thing he knew, countless volleys of plasma mortar shells were clashing to the ground around him. Each impact from the mortars were felt in his chest and they also shook the warthog back and forth. Immediately after the impacts, the tanks and warthogs began to return fire, firing deafening tank rounds along with constant volleys from the chainguns and gauss cannons. Eric watched as a plasma mortar crashed down onto the warthog in front of him, causing it to explode into many pieces. Instinctually, Rob swerved their warthog around the remains, almost having Eric lose his grip on his rocket launcher._

 _Rob noticed this and swiftly slapped Eric's shoulder pad. "Don't lose that rocket, kid."_

" _I won't, sir," Eric quickly replied._

 _Rob then pointed up in sky just ahead of their position. "Banshees, rapidly approaching! Take them out before they make a strafe!" He then looked over to Eric who was struggling to keep himself still inside the warthog. "That means you, kid! Target two of those banshees, quick!"_

 _Eric managed to wedge himself in his seat and lifted the rocket launcher up in the air. He aimed through the sight and painted the first banshee which just started firing waves of plasma bolts at their convoy. The target indicator locked onto the banshee and he immediately fired a rocket. The rocket swirled through the air towards the banshee and detonated in front of its hull, causing it to explode into a large purple mist._

" _Nice one, kid," Rob congratulated._

 _Eric then aimed for the next banshee and proceed to repeat his previous action. After locking onto the alien aircraft, he fired the second rocket at it. As it swirled in the air towards the banshee, the banshee suddenly backs to the right, pushing the rocket off target. The rocket flew past the banshee and immediately began to hook around to make another pass at the banshee. The pilot of the banshee seemed to notice the rocket wrapping around and immediately began to boost towards Eric's warthog. The rocket was directly behind the banshee, slowly making its way towards it. Eric figured out what the banshee was planning to do. It was going to redirect his own rocket at his warthog. Very quickly, he loaded the launcher with two more rockets and aimed back up at the incoming banshee. He rapidly fired both rockets without locking onto the banshee. The banshee swerved to the right, dodging the two rockets. Suddenly without warning, the rocket behind the banshee curved perfectly into causing a large purple explosion in the air._

 _With all the chaos happening at once and the explosions in the sky and on the ground, Rob did not react in time when a destroyed banshee from the sky crashed down on the front hull of the warthog. Their warthog flipped forward sending the three people inside of the warthog flying out of it. Eric, Rob, and his other Spartan teammate landed on the ground before the warthog. Eric watched as the warthog flew over him and landed behind him. After making sure he was out of the way of the convoy, he turned around to see his teammate's body crushed by the warthog. He rushed to the warthog and attempted to push it off his teammate's body._

 _Suddenly, he was pushed away from the incident by Rob who then slapped him in his face. "Forget him, he's gone! Grab a weapon and get ready!"_

 _Eric quickly searched around for his assault rifle and any other weapon. While doing this, he looked around at several destroyed vehicles, both human and Covenant that littered the canyon. Both he and Rob realized that more than half of their convoy was already destroyed. What they had left was nowhere near enough to take out the western tower._

" _Command, this is Scimitar leader! Almost all of the convoy has been destroyed by Covenant artillery and air forces! Our wave was completely ineffective! Requesting immediate evac! We are no use out here!" Rob shouted through the communication network._

" _Roger, Scimitar leader. Order the rest of the convoy to retreat. Get back to the CP!" Command's dispatcher replied back._

" _Understood!" He then switched frequencies. "Mako Convoy, this is Scimitar leader! Pull back to the CP! That's a direct order!"_

 _Multiple responses came back from Mako Convoy stating that they were retreating. Eric took cover behind his war-torn warthog and watched the convoy of both ground and air vehicles immediately turn around and head back towards him and Rob. Behind the convoy, several ghosts and revenants began to pursue them. The banshees started to fly in another direction towards the east, most likely towards Noble's convoy._

" _Noble team, you have a few squads of banshees closing in on your convoy!" Eric shouted through on Noble's frequency._

" _Thanks Scimitar Five," Noble One replied. "Be careful out there."_

 _Rob pulled out his assault rifle and took cover next to the warthog beside Eric. "Good job on warning Noble about the banshees," he congratulated after injecting a round into the chamber of his assault rifle. He then looked over the warthog at the incoming convoy who were being pursued by Covenant ground vehicles. "Now we just need to buy some time."_

 _Rob glanced up at the last falcon from their convoy heading in their direction. The markers on his HUD showed him that it contained the other two members of Scimitar Team. His attention was then directed to the remaining ground vehicles. There were three tanks covering the rest of the convoy's escape from the pursuing Covenant vehicles. Despite their sacrifice, the Covenant managed to break through the tank blockade. They were getting crushed by several revenant and wraith mortar shells. With only a handful of warthogs left within the convoy, Rob realized that retreating by ground would be impossible._

 _He pulled out a green smoke grenade and then called through the radio. "Scimitar Three, this is Scimitar leader. Come pick us up. Look for green smoke." He pulled the pin and threw the grenade next to their warthog, which immediately started spew out green smoke._

" _Roger that, Scimitar One. I see the smoke. Be there in a few," his teammate replied._

 _Rob looked back over to Eric who looked like he was ready to take on the incoming Covenant forces. Rob knew they Eric wasn't going to like the decision he was about to make, but he is going to have to understand. He let a hard exhaled and tapped Eric's shoulder, getting his attention. "Eric, we are going to get on that falcon when it gets here. Promise me that you're going to do that," he genuinely asked his teammate._

 _Eric slightly cocked his head but immediately replied back. "Of course, sir."_

 _Rob shook his head. "No you need to promise me it, okay?" He ordered him._

 _Eric was getting more confused by his leader's plead. He hesitated to answer and looked back over to the convoy, who were still getting crushed by the Covenant vehicles. His concerns for the rest of the personnel in the convoy suddenly flared up in his gut. If they hoped to survive this disaster, they were going to have to leave the rest of the warthogs and the personnel in them behind. Before he could reply to his leader, the falcon reached their position and lowered down to them. Rob lightly pulled Eric away from the warthog and pointed at the falcon._

" _Get on, that's an order," Rob said sternly. Eric obeyed his leader's order and climbed into the falcon. Rob followed suite and sat down next to Eric._

 _Eric looked out at the retreating warthogs and shook his head. "There's gotta be something we can do,"he said in a concerned tone._

 _Rob ignored his statement called through the radio. "We're on, Scimitar Three. Get us out of here."_

" _Roger that, sir," the pilot replied and the falcon immediately flew in the opposite direction of the retreating convoy._

 _Eric was horrified by his leader's decision in leaving the rest of the marines behind. "Sir, we could have done something to help!"_

 _Rob looked back to him and shook his head. "No, there's nothing we can do. If we turned around and tried to help them escape, we would get killed too! Humanity needs us to live to fight another day!"_

 _Eric still shook his head in disbelief. "No, sir! We could have managed to save a few marines!"_

 _Rob grabbed Eric by his chestplate and pulled him towards himself. Their helmets were practically touching. Rob got into his face and said something to Eric that he will never forget._

" _This is war," said in dark, but truthful tone. "And in war, people die."_

The memory of the incident started to fade away in Eric's mind, but his former leader's quote remained as clear as crystal.

 _This is war._ Rob's voice echoed through Eric's head. _This is war. And in war, people die._

Rob's quote has stuck with Eric since that day. After every high-casualty rated mission on Reach, Eric repeated that quote to himself. _This is war. And in war, people die._

Repeating the quote to himself proved to be helping when following through to the next missions. Like anything else, the more he did and saw things, the less of an impact it was on his conscious. However, those old emotions had a tendency to creep into his thoughts at the most inopportune times. To this day, he still was grieving the deaths of the soldiers, civilians, and the his old teammates from Scimitar team that he couldn't save during the fall of Reach, the marines he couldn't save during the Battle of Earth, and the Spartans of Castle team during the Second Battle of Requiem. However, his guilt for them was nothing comparable to the deaths of his three teammates from Crimson team. Jon, Dylan, and Danny were heavy losses to him, especially Danny. After Danny died his arms, a horrid sensation was triggered in his gut. That feeling alone single handedly took him back to square one in his own war against his emotions.

His eyes dimmed after his mind drifted into wondering about what Rob would say to him if he saw him in this state. The last thing he wanted was to disappoint his old leader, even after his death. Rob was more of a father to him than Mendez was. He always had something profound to say during the worst times. And every time, those comments lifted his spirit and morale back up. He remembered Rob's most sincerest comment, which was just before he died on another mission on Reach. He remembered how even though he was laying on the ground bleeding out, he looked the rest of of the members of Scimitar with a genuine smile across his face and said, _You are the finest Spartans I ever known._

Eric wondered if he was still worthy of that comment. After Danny's death, he was convinced that he had to earn that status as being one of the finest Spartans ever, especially when Danny's final words to Eric were, _Earn this._ At this very point, he found himself back at square one.

Eric's mind reflected back to Sage's and Wilder's funeral. The expressions on each Spartans' face were still extremely vivid, Spade's especially. Eric was previously aware of the strong Spade had with Sage. That friendship took off after Sage set Spade up with Kait shortly after Jonah broke the ice. Despite the fact that they were only in the Division for six days, their friendship was still very concrete. Maybe even as strong as the bond Eric had with his old Fireteam, maybe even his bond with Danny. And for that, it was easy for him to relate and feel empathetic towards Spade.

Attempting to get his mind back on track, Eric shook his head went back to thinking about the intel he found. The information that was recovered from the innie data pad Spade found showed the locations of several Meta Division bases and influenced on many different planets. The most of the planets, based on the information that Magnus found, are almost entirely located in the Outer Colonies. Most of the planets with Meta affiliation like Aleria, Meridian, Victoria, and Sedra. However, there were three other planets that caught Eric and several others off guard. Apparently, the Meta Division also had secret bases on Sanghelios, Doisac, and on Reach.

The fact that they chose Reach, although glassed by the Covenant, as a location for one of these bases, was unbelievable. Even though it was impossible for colonization, the fact they were able to arrive to Reach undetected by the UNSC was a feat in itself. Besides the fact of how they were able to establish a base on those planets, another question was then brought up between the higher ups. Why would they _want_ to establish a secret base on Reach?

As for their presence on Sanghelios and Doisac, the Meta Division's motives for their secret bases on those two planets were much more clear. The agreed theory was that they were there to collect Sangheili and Jiralhanae hosts for Xenomorph breeding. Establishing a hidden base on both of those planets would be relatively trivial. Sanghelios was currently in a civil war between Thel Vadam's Swords of Sanghelios and Jul 'Mdama's Storm Covenant which would make it much easier for any outside faction to establish a base somewhere on the planet.

As for Doisac, the brutes there were suffering from constant civil war between clans as well as Covenant Loyalists. Like Sanghelios, it would be fairly, if not, much easier to establish a hidden base on the planet. The fact that made it harder for Omega Division to investigate the Meta presence is that they had no friendly factions on the planet as opposed to their alliance with Thel's faction on Sanghelios. In addition, most, if not, all of the brutes were not big fans of humanity. If they were going to get any support from any brute faction, they were going to need help from the Sangheili. Despite their intense rivalry in the Covenant, they were once allies and Thel's influence to end the Covenant Remnant could entice a clan on Doisac to assist Omega in searching for the Meta Division.

Needless to say, there was a lot of diplomacy in the near future and Eric was not very patient with diplomacy. Although, because of his status of being the Commander of Meta Division, it was required of him to be present in these diplomatic meetings. Admiral Lasky received orders from FLEETCOM to inform Omega Command to meet up with The Arbiter on Sanghelios in a hour to discuss about the Meta Division presence on Sanghelios and to also request for their assistance in searching for them. Eric believed that his Spartans needed more time to mourn for their fallen comrades and to fully recover.

The only Fireteams that were currently ready for deployment were Fireteams Ghost and Aries. Creedance were short a teammate and McBride was still recovering from his severe concussion and his multiple bruised ribs which meant that he will be out of commission for a month or so. Sparks and Babburi were both on standby for this next op.

Regendorf, on the other hand, was very eager to get back into the grind despite the fact that his arm was amputated. Eric was originally going to discharge him from Omega Division due to the loss of his limb. When he spoke to Regendorf personally about his discharge, Regendorf lost his temper and strongly requested for a military-grade prosthetic arm. He then continued to tell Eric that he would never feel like he deserved to be discharged and that he would be at a loss in civilian life.

After the long heartfelt conversation, Eric decided to allow him to remain in Omega Division and requested ONI to manufacture a specialized prosthetic arm specifically for Regendorf. Later that day, ONI acknowledged Eric's request and said the prosthetic arm would be shipped to Kepler in roughly two weeks. When Eric informed Regendorf about the good news, he was extremely thankful for Eric's help and allowing him to have a second chance on the battlefield.

Ben Porsche confronted Eric and requested if he could assist in the next mission. Eric figured that his request was due to his desire for redemption. He believes that his failure in leadership was the cause of death for the two Spartans. Frankly, the fact that Quanah and Wilder were lost was completely out of Porsche's control and, if anything, the fault would point towards Eric before Porsche. Either way, Eric wanted to personally make sure that the other Spartans of Jaeger team were ready as well, especially Spade. Spade did express his eagerness to be a part of the next mission. However, the decision for the presence of Porsche and Spade on this mission would have to made with the rest of the other higher ups.

Cerulean team was in no condition to fight. The death of Quanah Sage deeply impacted the hearts of the other three Spartans, even Thresh's. The only reason they would be deployed on the next mission was if they were absolutely needed. Unless their assistant was extremely dire, they were going to sit this next mission out.

Anyways, the next assignment is going to be extremely important in tracking down the Meta Division on Sanghelios. In order to entice the Arbiter to assist Omega on their planet-scale search for the base, they were going to need some personnel that has a positive history with elites. Thankfully, both David Wolf and Mario Snow both possessed backgrounds involving an ambassadorship with Sangheili. Regardless, only Wolf was going to attend the meeting with the Arbiter along with Eric and Fireteam Aries. Snow's orders were to hold down the fort on the Brigadier if something were to go wrong in the meeting.

Eric stood in the bridge with his hands behind his back as his gaze lost in the stars. He went over the topics he had to discuss with the Arbiter about over and over in his head. He knew of the Arbiter's service record in the Covenant and how he was responsible for the deaths of billions of humans and for the fall of Reach. It was easy for him to blame the elite for the partial extinction of the human race. However at the same time, or rather towards the end of the Great War, the Arbiter was also responsible for cutting off the head of the snake and the extermination of the Flood which also, arguably, saved the human race along with the rest of the species in the galaxy. The elite really did rewrite his wrongs and some believe that he was simply being a good disciple of the Covenant in his campaign against humanity.

Either way, this wasn't the reason why Eric was meeting up with him. There were much more pressing matters at hand. He turned around to face the Brigadier's Captain who stood next the briefing table studying a holographic image of Sanghelios.

"Captain Duranso, are we ready for departure?"

The Captain looked back over to Eric and nodded. "Just about. Major Baxendale is rounding up the last of the regiment into the ship. Should take a few more minutes."

"Good. What does Sanghelios look like right now?" He asked after leaning down on the briefing table.

Captain Duranso turned his gaze back to the briefing table. "There are a few skirmishes in a couple of cities," he replied. He brought his hand to his beard and simply shrugged. "All things considered, it's pretty quiet. The location of the meeting is clear."

Eric nodded. "Alright, thanks Duranso." He glanced over to Magnus's area on the briefing table. "Magnus, when will we be ready? I don't want to make the Arbiter wait."

Magnus's avatar popped into view in front of Eric. "Actually, Major Baxendale just radioed in saying that he's ready. The Spartans are also ready for slipspace."

"Alright. Captain, let's depart to Sanghelios," Eric said.


	7. The Swords of Sanghelios

**Date: January 23rd, 2559, 1905 hours**

 **Location: Classified sector of Sanghelios**

 **Event: Meeting with Thel 'Vadam**

Eric observed the Spartans that were around him in the pelican. Fireteam Aries were all standing with their weapons holstered on their backs. Porsche and Bishop were also attending the meeting for security purposes. Eric studied Spartan Tyler Eilen's expression who was holding his helmet next to waist. He seemed to be uneasy about this meeting with the Sangheili, which was understandable. He then glanced over to the other Fireteam leaders. Porsche seemed to be calm and collected, but judging by the weapons he elected to bring along on this mission, he clearly was prepared for the worst case scenario. Bishop, on the other hand, clearly was wary about this meeting. He was sitting down with his arms crossed with his DMR resting on his lap. These elites may have been our allies during the Battle of Installation 00, but the tensions between the two species never dwindled away. Even with the tension, Eric decided that it would be wise for him and Dave to come to meeting unarmed to show the elites that they weren't here for a fight. Hopefully they buy it.

Sitting next to Eric, Spartan Wolf's eyes were glued to his data pad and his fingers were scrolling through information. After tapping a few commands, he grunted and shook his head.

"What is it?" Eric asked Dave.

Dave's gaze still did not leave his data pad. "We're late, and the Arbiter isn't very thrilled about it."

"Did you catch something over the radio that I didn't?" Eric asked him.

Dave shook his head. "No. I just know how he is. He doesn't like it when people are late."

Eric shook his head and then looked up towards the cockpit. "Pilot, what's our ETA?"

"One minute, sir," the pilot replied.

"Thanks," he replied back.

Eric then stood up took a couple steps towards the end bay door. After a moment, the door began to open revealing a desert and rocky landscape with an intense sunbeam. The bright sunlight caused Eric to squint his eyes.

"That sunbeam," Spartan Gutierrez groaned as he lifted his hand over his visor.

Eric called back to the Brigadier through the communication network. "This is Commander Bame. We are just approaching the LZ, over."

Snow's transponder appeared on Eric's HUD. "Understood, Commander. Brigadier on standby. Radio in when you need us."

"Thanks, Mario," Eric replied back. He turned around to look at the other seven Spartans. "Alright, Spartans. Stay calm and don't do any questionable actions, understood?"

The members of Aries and the other two Fireteam leaders all nodded in sync and prepared to pile out of the pelican. Dave smirked and got to his feet.

"Basically, don't be a retard. We need to get on the elites' good side. Just leave that to the Commander and myself," Dave commented as he placed his data pad in his leg compartment.

The members of Aries drew their battle rifles and took a step towards the bay door. Porsche drew his SAW and tapped Bishop on the shoulder. Bishop nodded, drew his DMR, and followed behind the members of Aries. Eric looked out of the door and spotted six armored elites in red with plasma rifles equipped. Their uniform was much different from what the Storm Covenant wore, basically identical to what they wore during the Battle of Earth several years ago. One of the elite's helmet was more ornamental than the others and reminded Eric of a zealot's headpiece he remembered on Reach. The elite must be one of the Arbiter's chief lieutenants.

As the pelican landed over the LZ, Eric was the first to exit the drop ship and immediately started walking towards the lieutenant. He noticed that two of the elite's mandibles were missing. The rest of the Spartans followed behind him and exchanged glances with the other elites. The elites remained expressionless but they kept their yellow and green eyes on the Spartans. The lieutenant then brought his arm up at Eric, ordering him to stop. Eric and the rest of the Spartans immediately stopped in their tracks.

"Greetings, Spartans," he said in low gruff tone. The elite then brought his hand to his chest. "I am Rtas 'Vadam. I am the Arbiter's second in command and Fleet Master of the Fleet of Retribution."

Eric was impressed with the elite's military status and decided to bow to him. He was also familiar with this elite's reputation towards the end of the Battle of Earth as well as his feats during the Battle of the Ark.

"May your reputation precede you, Fleet Master," Eric replied in a polite tone. He brought his hand to his chest and nodded. "I am Commander Eric Bame of Project Omega."

Rtas briefly looked surprised by Eric's introduction, but then politely bowed his head back to the Spartan. The brief expression caught Eric's curiosity, but he elected to remain silent.

"May your reputation precede you as well, Commander," Rtas said in lower tone.

The elite then turned his body around and started walking into the camp. Eric and the rest of the Spartans started to follow closely behind the Fleet Master cautiously. The rest of the elite's withdrew their plasma rifles and followed behind the Spartans.

Tyler took the opportunity to glance around the camp. There were several other elites in small groups speaking in their native language and gave the Spartans wary looks. In other areas around the camp, Tyler spotted a few grunts and jackals in their own groups. The jackals were speaking in their sharp screeching language and toying with their weapons. They didn't seem to care about Spartans' presence. The grunts, on the contrary, were fascinated by the sight of the Spartans. Many of them ran to the Spartans and stared at them as if they were gods. A few of them were chattering to each other in their high pitched childlike voices.

"By the gods, I never seen a Spartan before! They look so awesome! I hope they are on our side," one of the grunts practically shouted, obviously not afraid of how loud his comment was. He received several stares from the passing group, specifically glares of disapproval from the elites.

The grunt's comment made Tyler smile. _Glad to hear that we look presentable._ He turned his head to another group of elites who were all facing towards the Spartans with their arms crossed. One of the elites looked much slender and a little shorter than the others. The appearance of this elite caught Tyler's curiosity. The armor looked like it was designed to fit a smaller bodied elite. The chest area seemed to protrude much more and had a very familiar curve. The elite's facial features also seemed to be much softer than the other elites Tyler has seen. The color of the elite's eyes had a brighter green hue compared to the others. Its legs also had more of a feminine curve.

 _Is that a female elite?_ Tyler thought to himself. The elite's chest area convinced him that it was. He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by seeing the first female Sangheili. _Apparently female elites have boobs. How about that?_

At the front of the line, Rtas turned his head towards Bame as they made their way to the meeting tent.

"I heard about your feats during the battles on Reach and Earth," he stated sternly. Eric turned his gaze back to the elite wondering what he was about to say. "You seem to be a true warrior of humanity, especially after witnessing how you single handedly defended that evacuation transport on Reach."

The elite's comment caught Eric by surprise. He was referring to a very particular event in New Alexandria. In particular, the mission where he had to defend the evac transport alone with little ammo. The mission was nearly impossible to pull off, especially alone. He remembered the waves of elites that attacked his position. The first few waves were fairly simple since the elites were lower ranked and inexperienced, but it wasn't long until the Covenant started deploying more experienced elites like ultras and eventually SpecOp elites. He remembered one SpecOp elite in particular who is as obviously an officer that he squared up against. The fight between him and that elite was long and intense. He remembered being stabbed in the right side of his torso, but then manage to push the elite over an edge that dropped several feet. He didn't get the chance to kill the elite, but he managed to survive the fight even after several waves of elites.

Rtas continued on. "I will be the first to admit, Spartan, that your skills as a warrior are insurmountable."

He paused and slightly turned his head towards Eric, his green eye studied the Spartan's physique. Eric noticed a faint glare in his expression that he was clearly trying to hide. His comment made also made Eric wonder what the elite was trying to imply, but he decided that now was not the time to ask.

"I appreciate the compliment, Fleet Master," Eric replied back. "I never had the chance to thank you for what you did for humanity."

"I need not your gratitude, Spartan. I simply did my duty for my kin," Rtas stated back. "Thank the Arbiter for establishing a truce between our species."

Eric nodded in reply. He then glanced over to Dave who shrugged back. Dave tapped his wrist pad which opened up a private channel.

"Well, he could have been a little nicer to ya," he joked.

Eric slightly shook his head and connected back to Dave. "Either way, he's still going along with the meeting," Eric said flatly. He took a quick glance at the elite and slightly cocked his head.

"What is it, Commander?" Dave asked after noticing his vexing expression.

Eric glanced back over to Dave. "I don't know, Dave. It surprises me that he knows of my mission on Reach."

"Well, he acts like he has a certain vindication with you. He did say that he witnessed what you did in that mission. My guess is that he was there," Dave said in a matter of fact tone.

Dave's comment made Eric wonder more. He reflected back on the elite he fought during that mission. He assumed that the elite died from the fall, but he never really knew for sure. He decided to briefly share the incident with Dave. "There was this one SpecOps elite that I fought in that mission. It was a brutal fight, but I pushed him over the edge. I thought the drop killed him, but I didn't take the time to look."

Dave slightly cocked his head. "You know, Rtas use to be a SpecOps commander for the Covenant, right?"

Eric shook his head. "I did not, actually." This new information made him feel uneasy about this meeting, especially since he might have a negative history with Rtas.

Dave was about to reply back, but they were approaching the meeting tent which had a few elite guards posted outside with plasma repeaters. Eric hasn't seen one of those weapons since Reach. _They must be short of weaponry,_ he thought to himself.

Rtas stopped in front of the Spartans and ordered them to stop. "I will only allow four of you to enter the tent," he stated to them.

Dave opened his mouth to retort but Eric raised his arm in front of his chest. "Understood, Fleet Master. We understand your cautiousness." Eric looked over to Bishop and Porsche and jerked his head to the tent. He then signaled Fireteam Aries to hold their position.

He opened up a private channel with Tyler. "Stay out of trouble. Hold this position. Understood?" Tyler nodded back. "Thanks Eilen."

Eric turned around to look at Rtas who was standing in front of the entrance with his arms crossed. "We're ready, Fleet Master."

Rtas turned around and moved the tent's flap to the side. The first thing Eric saw inside the tent was an elite with bright golden armor which was similar to that of samurai architecture. His headpiece had a scale-like design and had a crest on the back side which was a little larger than Rtas' helmet. No doubt, the elite was the Arbiter himself. Eric, Dave, Porsche, and Bishop entered the tent cautiously. Rtas took one more look at the Spartans of Fireteam Aries, muttered something in his native language to the guard, who nodded back to him, and then entered the tent behind the Spartans.

The Arbiter was standing on the other side of a holographic briefing table with four other elites who seemed to be higher ranked military leaders. The Arbiter ceased his discussion with the other elites and looked up at the Spartans entering the meeting tent. There was a long pause where no one made any movement, or spoke any words. There was just silence, and the silence was deafening. Finally, the Arbiter waved his hand to two of his commanders. The two higher ranked elites bowed and began to file out of the tent, giving skeptical glances towards the Spartans as they left. The Spartans returned the glare through their visors until they had completely left the tent. The two remaining elites stood up straight and both crossed their arms, analyzing each of the Spartans.

The elite to the Arbiter's right wore red and blue armor that was similar to what the elite majors wore on Reach, but more upgraded. His eyes were golden and they were thoroughly surveying each of the Spartans, especially Porsche who was gripping his SAW firmly. Eric noticed as the elite slowly reached for his energy sword discreetly. The other elite to the Arbiter's left wore crimson red armor that looked to be a later variation of the Sangheili Assault Armor. His face was completely hidden behind his helmet. His attention was directed more closely to Dave like he was familiar with the Spartan.

"Spartans…" the Arbiter said with a low hum in his voice. "I bid you greetings on behalf of Sanghelios."

Eric approached the holographic table, removed his helmet, and placed it on the table. "A pleasure to meet you too, Arbiter."

The Arbiter turned his head to the side, gazing at Eric with one eye, contemplating his response. "I understand that you wish to have a discussion pertaining to the presence of a rogue human organization on Sanghelios, hm?" His tone was rather straightforward. "That was the extent of what… ONI provided me with." His mandibles clenched and he slightly waved his head around. "You are fortunate that I allowed this meeting to take place. My reputation with ONI is rather… harsh."

Eric was unaware of his history with the Naval Intelligence, and it was none of his business. Nor was it the reason why this meeting was called for. "With all due respect, Arbiter, I did not call to have this meeting to discuss your history with ONI and I don't believe they did either."

The Arbiter huffed and leaned down onto the table. "Yes, of course not."

"Forgive me on skipping the formalities," Eric said while bringing a hand to his chest. "I am Commander Eric Bame of Project Omega. This Spartan to my left is Spartan David Wolf." Dave politely bowed after being introduced. "The other two Spartans are Ben Porsche, leader of Fireteam Jaeger, and Brayden Bishop, leader of Fireteam Foresight," he said, pointing at each of the Spartans.

The Arbiter bowed his head out of respect to each of the Spartans. "Honor and vitality to you, Spartans." He looked over to Rtas. "I trust that you have already been acquainted with the Fleet Master, yes?"

"That is correct," Eric said in reply, giving Rtas a quick nod. He received no response from the former SpecOps Commander.

The Arbiter continued on by beginning to introducing the other two elites. He pointed to his left. "This is Commander N'tho 'Sraom of Special Operations of the Swords of Sanghelios. He is a trusted warrior who has been by my side since the Great Schism."

"Greetings, Spartans," 'Sraom said in a low gruff.

The Arbiter then turned his head towards the elite on his right. "And this is Usze 'Taham, Field Marshal of the Swords of Sanghelios. He also has been with me since the beginning. His former position as an Ascetic helped our cause against the Covenant."

'Taham politely bowed to the Spartans, but remained silent. His gaze focused on Dave and the two nodded to each other.

The Arbiter then directed his attention back at the Spartans and started to pace back and forth next to the table. "If you are permitted, Commander Bame, I would like to learn more about this so called Project Omega."

Eric brought his hand to his chin and cleared his throat. "Well, we are a specialized division of the Spartan-IV Program that deals with Xenomorph and Yautja activity."

The Arbiter squinted his eyes and cocked his head, seeming to be unfamiliar with what Eric was referring to. "I have not heard of either of these beings."

Eric shrugged at the elite's comment, understanding his ignorance. "Almost a year ago just after the Second Battle of Requiem, the UNSC Infinity chased Jul 'Mdama and a few of his ships to an uncharted planet. Have you heard of Operation Wildfire?"

The Arbiter shook his head. "I have not."

"Oh, I can understand your lack of information then," Eric commented. "Well, to keep the story short, the operation was a disaster. We came into contact with two new and very dangerous species on that planet. Jul 'Mdama was the least of our worries. Anyways, the first species are known as Xenomorphs. They are a parasitic serpent-like species much like the Flood, maybe not as dangerous since they are more animalistic than intelligent. Either way, they proved to be more lethal than the Flood when in combat. The other species, the Yautja, are an intelligent race that are much like your kind. Their society is based on clans. We currently know of two separate sub-species. The first are smaller in size and more centralized on honor and hunting. The other are much larger, feral, and are focused on becoming the best killers, which make them more dangerous."

"I see," the Arbiter replied after taking in the information Eric shared with him. "May I ask what this information has to do with this meeting?"

Eric glanced over to Dave, signaling him to speak. "Well, the two species are obviously not as dangerous as either of our species," Dave said in slightly sarcastic tone. "Which brings me to my next point: Our division is tracking down a top-secret Insurrectionist division, which ONI mentioned to you. The rogue human organization, that you mentioned, is known as the Meta Division. Our intelligence tells us that they are capturing Xenomorphs and Yautja and attempting to weaponize them."

After catching his breath, Dave glanced around at the four elites. They were clearly unamused about the information. Dave shook his head and leaned down onto the table. "Alright, to put this into a perspective that you fine Sangheili will understand: Think about how terrible it would be if the Covenant controlled the Flood."

The four elites glanced amongst each other with concerning expressions.

"Yeah, that would be terrible," Dave said after observing each of their expressions. "In this case, the Meta Division is planning to do that with both of those species. What you do not understand about the Xenomorphs is that they can wipe out a planet in less than a month! Imagine what an outbreak could do to your planet."

The Arbiter gave Rtas a wary glance and then looked back at the Spartans. "These Xenomorphs," he started. "How does that infestation spread?"

"In a sense," Eric began to explain, "they are similar to the Flood. They require hosts in order to procreate. And like the Flood, the organism's size and abilities are solely based on their host was." Eric nudged Dave with his elbow. "Here, we will show you what we mean."

Dave pulled out his data pad and started to scroll through it looking for the images. After a moment, Dave tapped a command on the device and placed the pad on the table. A few holographic pictures popped out of the pad depicting different breeds of Xenomorphs linked to a picture of their respective host.

Eric pointed at the first set of pictures which was of the Xenomorph that came from a human host. "This Xeno here is the result from a human host. Noticed how the body structure and the face is similar to ours. However, they are much larger, stronger, and faster than the average human. Even a couple of my Spartans were challenged with their strength." He then directed their attention to the Sangheili Xenomorph. "This one here comes from a Sangheili host. You see the mandibles on their face and their hands. I personally dealt with this strain during Wildfire and they were much stronger and faster than our counterpart." Eric then looked back over to the Arbiter. "Do you understand our concern about these organisms, Arbiter?"

The Arbiter began to realize why the Spartans asked for this meeting after putting the pieces together. His jaws muscles clenched and he stopped pacing. His golden eyes met with Eric's and he turned his body to face the Spartan. "I understand your concern now, Spartan. To my knowledge and with the information you provided to me, these parasites require hosts to spread and this rogue human organization you call the Meta Division is striving to turn this plague into a weapon, correct?"

Eric nodded. "Correct."

"And you mentioned that they already captured some of these parasites?"

"That's right," Eric replied.

The Arbiter remained silent for a moment, attempting to connect the dots. Suddenly, it was clear to him as why the UNSC called for this meeting. "Are you trying to inform me that the Meta Division may be on Sanghelios trying to capture my brothers and sisters and using them as hosts?" His tone was dark and full of anger.

Dave spoke up. "It's not a question of _if_ they are. We _know_ they are on Sanghelios. The real question is _where_ are they on Sanghelios. We found information from an Insurrectionist source that told us of several planets that had Meta Division bases. Sanghelios is one of them!"

"By the Gods," Rtas muttered. "Those humans are using us as host for their parasite?" The anger in his tone started to flare up in his expression.

"I'm afraid they are," Eric replied in an apologetic tone.

Rtas let out a livid growl and took a confrontational step towards the Spartan Commander. The aggressive action caused Porsche to quickly take aim at the elite with his SAW. Immediately, Eric grabbed the end of the barrel and pushed the weapon down. Dave took a step back away from the elite and Bishop lifted his DMR up at the elite. On the other side of the table, N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham both activated their energy swords and took a few steps closer to the scene, but the Arbiter stopped them both in their tracks.

"Stop, Porsche!" Eric yelled. He looked over to Bishop and pointed at him with an enraged expression. "Lower your rifle, goddamn it!"

"Stow your blades, brothers!" The Arbiter ordered his two elites. He then glared at Rtas. "Fleet Master, I did not order you to attack the Spartans. Do not instigate another war against the humans."

Rtas glared back at the Arbiter. "Seems as though we are going to war with them either way. I never would have thought that they would use us as host for their pet parasite," he raged as he slowly turned his head back towards Eric. "Using us as test subjects for their research. It makes me wonder if the prophets were right about exterminating these human pests!"

The enraged Sangheili's harsh insult caused Porsche to completely lose his temper. With all the rage flowing through his veins, Porsche thrust his SAW on the ground and immediately got into Rtas' face. Through clenched teeth, he roared, "Say that again, split-chin, and I will end you right here. You understand me?"

With firm shove, Eric pushed Porsche back away the elite and stood in between them with both of his arms out. "Porsche, I told you to stop! That's an order." Porsche regained control of his anger, and his head lowered in anguish.

"My apologies, sir. It won't happen again." He said while picking up his SAW.

At the same time, the Arbiter rushed around the table and grabbed Rtas by his chest plate then pushed him away from the Spartans. "You are forgetting yourself, brother. These are not the humans that are dishonorable. These humans are here to assist us." Rtas growled lowly and looked away from the Arbiter. The Arbiter briefly glanced at the Spartans and then back to Rtas. "Fleet Master, I order you to leave this meeting."

Rtas turned his head back to the Arbiter then glared at the Spartans. After letting a low huff, the Fleet Master bowed his head and left tent after giving Eric one more glaring look.

The Arbiter turned his attention back to the Spartan Commander and slowly blinked his eyes, seemingly frustrated about his comrade's hostile behavior. "My friend's trust is not the issue today, Commander Bame. It is my trust you must earn."

"I understand, Arbiter," Eric replied. "You already have my trust."

The Arbiter remained silent for a moment, eyeing the commander's posture. He hoped whatever choice he makes will be fair and please both species. Before he could decide, he prodded a few more questions from the Spartans. "What would you ask of us, Commander?"

"We ask for your assistance and guidance in searching for the Meta Division's base on Sanghelios," Eric replied back.

The Arbiter stood in place for a few moments, debating the offer. He slowly turned to his comrades and began discussing the offer in hushed tones. Eventually, the Arbiter returned to face the Spartans. He hook his head. "I am afraid that I cannot assist you on your mission. My forces are spread thin as is in our fight against the Covenant. Relinquishing command of even one of my elites could turn the tide in this war. I am sorry, but we cannot help your endeavor."

The Arbiter's reason was one that Eric neglected to take into consideration. It was all too obvious as to why the Arbiter could not support Omega at this time. He glanced over to Dave who shrugged back to him. After pondering on the current issue in depth, he realized that there was one suggestion he could propose that might convince the Arbiter. So, he turned back to the elite.

"Maybe we can come to a certain agreement," he stated.

"Spartan, you have received my decision. Now respect it, or leave this place," the Arbiter shot back. He began to turn away from the group and began to exit the tent. His comrades bowed as he passed by and proceeded to follow their leader. Eric quickly placed his helmet back on and began to tail after the elites out from the tent. Dave, Bishop, and Porsche exchanged confused glances, then pursued their commander, who had already left the tent.

"Arbiter, you must be reasonable about this. You do not understand how significant this operation is to both of our species!" Eric pleaded as he tried to catch up to the Arbiter.

He received looks of confusion and skepticism from the surrounding elites, grunts, and jackals that littered the opening outside of the tent. The other two commanders who left prior to the meeting and the two elites that guarded the tent rejoined the Arbiter and noticed this group of Spartans gaining ground on their leader. They paused, faced the humans, and pulled their energy swords from their waists. The sound of crackling energy radiated throughout the canyon as the blades shot out from the hilts of the weapons. The sight of the energy swords caused Eric to immediately stop in his tracks.

"Sir!" Dave yelled in the coms. "Pull back, now!"

Eric held his ground, and within a few moments the remainder of the Spartans, including the members of Fireteam Aries, formed up around him with their weapons drawn. On cue, the rest of the alien species of the Swords of Sanghelios who surrounded their position drew their plasma-based weapons and aimed at the Spartans.

Angel, who stood in front of Eric with his battle rifle drawn, chuckled as he waved his weapon around at the surrounding aliens. "Looks like we are in a Mexican Standoff," he wise cracked.

"Quiet, Gutierrez," Tyler muttered while waving his battle rifle around.

After a few moments of silence and extreme tension, Eric lifted both of his hands up in the air, then slowly paced toward the Arbiter, who slowly turned around to calmly observe the intensive situation. Eric brushed past Angel, who was surprised to see his leader continue to slowly walk to the Arbiter. Dave's heart rate skyrocketed after witnessing his leader's risky decision. He instantly opened the private communication channel.

"Commander, what are you doing?" Dave cried.

Eric slightly tilted his head. "Trust me on this, Dave," he calmly replied. Before he gave Dave a chance to retort, he removed his Shinobi helmet and dropped it on the ground. "Arbiter, please. At least allow me to share my suggestion with you. Then if you choose to not consider my suggestion, we will leave in peace."

The Arbiter cocked his head and blinked, thoroughly assessing the choices he had. The rest of the other alien species exchanged confused expressions amongst each other and patiently waited for a response from the Arbiter. After a dreadfully long moment, the Arbiter took a few steps towards the Spartan Commander. Before his guards began to move beside him, he raised his arm at them and they stopped, but still had their energy swords activated. The Arbiter stood just a few feet away from the Spartan Commander and he looked down at him.

"What is your suggestion, Commander?" He questioned in a deep gruff tone.

Eric briefly glanced around at the other species around him then directed his attention back to the Arbiter. "I can supply you few Spartan Fireteams as well as a couple companies of Marines that will assist you in your fight against the Covenant Remnant in exchange for a few, or even one of your elite strike teams. We would also require a native of Sanghelios to act as a navigator."

The suggestion earned him several different expressions from both parties. It caught Porsche completely off guard. Dave on the other hand was impressed by his commander's bold offer, especially in this pressing situation. Some elites widened their eyes and awaited for their leader's response. Small chatter radiated amongst the ranks of grunts and jackals. The Arbiter hummed and brought his right hand to the side of his helmet, carefully contemplating on what the best decision would be. All things considered, it would certainly help his cause. Especially since he knew how skilled these particular Spartans were.

"I see," the Arbiter finally announced which attracted the full attention from his warriors around him. "You are sure that ONI would allow for this to happen?"

"ONI ordered me to get your assistance by any means necessary," Eric simply replied. "I would say that this is a fair exchange. Wouldn't you agree?"

The Arbiter approached his four elite commanders to discuss this new proposal. A few seconds later, the Arbiter returned to confront the Spartans. At first, there was simply silence, with a few murmurs from the crowd that had developed from this exchange. Suddenly, the Arbiter took three steps forward, and glared into Eric's eyes. The gaze seemed to pierce into his very soul. After a long moment, the Arbiter looked to his elites, and flicked his hand to them. Immediately, they retracted their energy swords, and the crowd stowed their weapons.

"Your offer, Commander Bame, resides well with myself and my commanders. You have earned my trust," the Arbiter announced. "I accept your assistance in our cause, and in return, I will supply you all the elite strike teams that you so desire." As he said this, he bowed out of respect and honor, signifying an agreement, as well as companionship.

Immediately, a massive roar pierced through the silence. Cheers from the grunts, screeches from the jackets, and roars from elites all combined together to create a symphony of sound that caused all of the Spartans to jump. Eric couldn't refrain himself from hiding the smile forming across his face after hearing the Arbiter's reply and he returned the bow. "You have my sincerest gratitude."

"And you have mine as well, Commander Bame," the Arbiter thanked in a genuine tone.

Eric reached to the ground, grabbed his helmet, and placed it back over his head. "Spartans, stand down. We have no quarrel with our new allies," Eric announced through the coms.

They lowered their weapons and holstered them in their respective locations. Immediately, a swarm of grunts came forward and began to vigorously shake their hands, which flabbergasted each of the Spartans. A few elites came forward and bowed, accepting their new allies with respect, while most of the other elites hung back with skeptical expressions across their faces.

N'tho 'Sraom took a step forward. "Brother," he said to the Arbiter who turned to him. "I would like to personally assist the Spartans on their mission."

The Arbiter cocked his head and pondered on his friend's request. He knew N'tho would be a very helpful asset for the Spartans. In addition, he was aware of the profound sense of respect and admiration N'tho had for humanity. That would certainly influence positive relations between humans and Sangheili.

After pondering for another moment, the Arbiter placed his hand on N'tho 'Sraom's shoulder and nodded his head. "You have my blessing, brother."

N'tho 'Sraom bowed to his leader. "You have my gratitude, Arbiter." He then looked over to Commander Bame. "Spartan, I look forward to fight alongside you and your warriors."

Eric bowed to the elite. "As do I, Commander." His attention was then directed back to the Arbiter. "I will notify Captain Duranso and Spartan Snow about our arrangements. I would appreciate it if you would allow us to mobilize the Brigadier to your fleet, so from there, we would be able to transport my men to your command post. I'll have Snow, and Wolf, here," he said pointing at Dave, "personally assist you with your strategy."

"I shall inform the Fleet Master about your ship entering our fleet. What becomes of you, Commander?" The Arbiter politely questioned.

"I will be joining the search for the Meta Division," Eric answered.

"I understand," the Arbiter hummed in his low tone. "It would be wise to proceed immediately." He then walked forward in the direction of the tent they came from, divided just moments before. "Come now, my friend. We have much to discuss."


	8. Nightfall

**Date: January 24th, 2559, 2030 hours**

 **Location: Classified sector of Sanghelios**

 **Event: Mission Debriefing**

Once again, both humans and elites put their differences aside to fight alongside each other against an overwhelming threat. It was a sentiment that Commander Bame and several other Spartans cherished. Most of the Spartans heard of the stories about how the two separated nations joined forces to fight against the Covenant on the Ark, despite having a brutal history. It was an exciting thing to think about and left them imagining what it would be like to fight alongside an elite, but now, they were going to actually experience it and not just with elites, but also grunts, jackals, and even hunters.

Earlier in the day, the Arbiter mobilized his forces along with Lieutenant Commander Snow, Spartan Wolf, Fireteams Foresight, Ghost, and Cerulean, as well as a few marine companies to the frontlines to formulate an assault on a Covenant occupied territory on Sanghelios. He left N'tho 'Sraom in command back at the camp where the meeting was held to assist Commander Bame search for the Meta Division's secret base on the planet.

Inside the briefing tent, Commander Bame along with both the leaders of Fireteams Aries and Jaeger, as well as Spartan Morales, were gathered around the briefing table with N'tho 'Sraom and three other higher ranked elites. There was one other elite that appeared to be a lower rank. The highest ranking elite, besides 'Sraom, was a SpecOps commander that went by the name of Iono 'Vandam. He wore white and crimson red elite ultra armor with a helmet that covered his whole head. The eye sections of the helmet glowed that made the elite appear fierce and ominous. He chose to be silent and allow his actions speak for him. When he did speak, it was very brief and direct.

Beside Iono stood the lowest ranking elite named Ryza 'Zykurous. He wore the standard elite minor armor but in green color. He was a rather strange Sangheili since he haled from a remote region of Sanghelios. His attitude was not like the typical elite which was more sarcastic and informal. Even though, honor was one thing he valued most and he strived to make a name for Zykurous.

Ryza's purpose in this mission was to be the navigator. When the civil war began shortly after the end of the Human-Covenant War, he vowed to assist Thel 'Vadam in fighting for the liberation of his homeworld. Before the civil war, he explored and studied almost every region on Sanghelios. He was very familiar with the terrain throughout the planet. Right off the bat, he was able to rule out several regions on the planet based on either presence of the Covenant and the Swords of Sanghelios, or knowing about the extremely harsh environments in those regions.

The other two elites were strike team leaders listening in on the details of the mission. They both wore red elite ranger armor with a helmet that had a transparent visor which vaguely showed their faces. They often exchanged curious glances with both Spartans Eilen and Porsche.

"So you're saying that it could maybe be on this island?" Eric asked Ryza while pointing at the holographic picture of the planet.

"I believe so, Spartan. It's in the middle of the Csurdon Sea. It is a more remote area of the sea," Ryza exclaimed as he brought his hand up to his neck and started rubbing it.

N'tho studied the island further in depth for a few moments, then let out a brief low hum. Something about this island did not sit well with him and it worried him. It was way too small for a secret base. He wasn't even sure if this island meant anything at all. The fact remains: they were searching for a small secret base on a planet without solid leads. Everything was based on speculation. As far as N'tho knows, there was no intelligence about a strange human organization capturing warriors from either the Swords of Sanghelios or the Covenant. However, there were a few strange reports that did cross his mind.

"We simply do not have enough information to prove that they are indeed on this island," N'tho finally said as he crossed his arms. "I understand your reasons to believe that they could possibly be there, Ryza."

Ryza looked back up to his commander with a questionable expression. His mandibles clenched against each other. "Is there something I am missing, Commander?"

N'tho briefly gazed at his comrade, then started to rotate the holographic image of his home planet. "Not long ago, I received a few strange reports from the war parties after a few skirmishes with the Covenant in these locations," he stated as he started placing markers on the hologram.

Ryza studied each of the locations. After a moment, he noticed a trend about them. "These reports are all along the coasts of Yermo and Qivro."

"Indeed, brother," N'tho replied.

With a puzzling expression, Ryza quickly turned back to his superior. "This only supports my claim about the island."

Eric nodded in agreement and pointed at the hologram. "Ryza has a point, Commander. All these points here simply encourage possibility of a base nearby. If they are along the coasts of those two continents, their base must be in the Csurdon Sea." He took a moment to study the landmarks in depth. One location caught his attention and he pointed at it. "What is this place?"

Ryza looked at the location. "Sunaion."

"What's it significance?" Eric asked as he looked over to N'tho who seemed taken aback about the location. Eric noticed the elite's concerned expression and lowered his eyebrows in bewilderment. "What's wrong, Commander?"

N'tho turned his head towards the Spartan Commander. "Sunaion is where the Arbiter is planning to attack," he replied in a low hum. He seemed more perplexed the more he observed the landmark. "It is the main stronghold of Jul 'Mdama's Storm Covenant."

"Why do you seem more concerned than before, brother?" Ryza asked his worrying leader.

"The island that you have mentioned is not far from Sunaion. From what the Arbiter has told me, this battle, that will take place there, will be a massive scaled assault, and I believe that the Swords of Sanghelios will be victorious after this raid," N'tho stated before taking a deep breath. "How would you think our enemy operates, Spartans?" He asked as he glanced around the briefing table.

Eric found himself at a loss of words, even though he had a pretty good idea of how they could operate. However, he wanted to see what his Spartans thought about the elite's question. After allowing the others to ponder the hypothetical question for a moment on their own, he glanced over them. "What do you think, boys? What would you do if you were Blackwater?"

After a few moments of silence between the Spartans, Eric noticed a timid expression across Tyler's face but seemed like he almost wanted to say something. "Eilen, what's on your mind?"

Tyler's reaction to his commander's question matched that to a doe in headlights. He was completely taken by surprise. "Um, I don't know, sir. I may have a theory but I'm not sure if it could be true," he quickly replied to Eric. He was clearly hesitant with speaking his mind.

"Anything is helpful, Spartan. Just say what you're thinking," Eric reassuringly replied as he moved to the left, giving Tyler some standing room next to the briefing table.

After glancing at his other two teammates, Tyler stepped forward closer to the table with a sheepish expression across his face. "Well, I can understand why the Meta Division chose to have a secret base on Sanghelios," he commented as he quickly glanced at the others around the table.

"What makes you say that?" Eric asked him.

Tyler looked over to his commander and cleared his throat. "Think about it, sir. This planet is in chaos," he replied flatly.

The reply earned him a few unnerving glances and grunts from a few of the elites. He noticed the elites' negative responses and brought his hand up to them, attempting to explain himself. "I didn't mean any offense, guys. But, it is true. You guys are in a nasty civil war with the Covenant, which would mean that both sides are almost, if not, completely focused on one another," he stated. He then paused and glanced over to the elites, waiting to see if they had any comments.

"Go on, Spartan," N'tho urged in a flat tone, intrigued with where the human was going with his comment.

Tyler shrugged lightly. "I mean, to me, it would be the perfect situation to create a secret base. They would easily slip past the fleet's defenses with smaller vessels. Then after creating the base, they would be able to capture smaller sized units from either side during the confusion. If I were Blackwater, I would only let my capture parties deploy during bigger battles since it would be easier through the chaos."

Eric nodded to his Spartan with a smile. "It's certainly possible."

"May I add something, sir?" Porsche suddenly asked, receiving his commander's attention.

"Go ahead, Porsche."

Porsche nodded, then looked over to Tyler. "If they would only deploy during battles, wouldn't that suggest that they are monitoring the radio channels?"

Both Tyler and Eric nodded in agreement. "I didn't even think about that, but that does make sense to me," Tyler replied and shrugged.

"If that were the case, they could easily survey each force's movements which would basically allow them to move around them undetected," Porsche added while looking at the others around the table.

N'tho nodded. "That would explain as to why they haven not been discovered yet," he replied. He looked over to both Tyler and Porsche. "I agree with your claims, Spartans. They must be operating during battles." He paused and thought about the theory in more depth. Suddenly, his expression switched to a more concerning look. "This could very well present us with another issue at hand."

Before Eric opened his mouth to ask him why he thought that, his instinct told him to look back to the holographic image of the map. After observing the markers of the reported incidents as well as the locations of the island and Sunaion, he realized that Sunaion was located well within the estimated radius from the island and the marked incidents. He can understand what N'tho's concern was.

"You're right," Eric agreed.

N'tho's clenched his alien fists and expanded his mandibles, then letting out an angered grunt. He eased his hands and leaned down onto the briefing table. "Despite the inevitable glory that will come forth when we purge the Covenant from our homeworld, I suspect that the Meta Division will mobilize their troops during this raid." He turned his attention towards Eric. "They will be capturing troops from both forces, including yours, Commander."

"I know," Eric regretfully replied. He glanced at the holographic image of the planet for a few more moments and then looked back to the elite commander. "We should contact the Arbiter and inform him about the possible Meta threat on Sunaion. At least they will know."

N'tho nodded his head and looked over to Iono 'Vandam. Iono bowed his head to his commander and left the tent. N'tho turned his gaze back to Ryza. "Do you know of the topography of this island, brother?"

Ryza was hesitant at first, trying to remember what the island looked like. "It's not very large if I remember correctly. There's also a rainforest there, so it will be fairly humid. I also remember seeing a lot of large rock formations, which might suggest that there is a cave system beneath the island."

Eric nodded in acknowledgment. "That would make sense if they were to have a secret base there. We should deploy our forces there."

"We are in agreement, Spartan," N'tho 'Sraom replied in a low tone. "The Arbiter will be commencing his attack on Sunaion in an hour. We should act quickly."

"I agree. If we are going to get there quietly, we are going to need your phantoms with active camouflage. My pelicans do not have that module installed," Eric said to the elite.

"It shall be so, Spartan," N'tho said as he bowed his head. "Time is of the essence. We must go as soon as possible."

"Of course," Eric said in agreement. He then looked over to his two Fireteam leaders. "You two. Get your Spartans ready. We are leaving ASAP."

"Yes, sir," both Spartans replied as they placed their helmets on their heads. They then exited the tent and ran to their respective Fireteams.

Eric then looked over to Ivan. "Morales, make sure the Spartans have the gear they need."

"You got it, Commander," he replied. He placed his helmet on and immediately exited the tent.

N'tho glanced over to one his remaining elite officers. "Summon two stealth phantoms here," he ordered the elite who bowed, then left the tent. He then looked over to the other elite. "Prepare the three strike teams. Make sure they have active camouflage on their armor."

"By your orders, Commander," he acknowledged as he bowed to him. The elite officer then exited the tent. Ryza followed behind the elite.

"Commander 'Sraom," Eric said, stopping him before he could leave the tent. N'tho looked at Eric with a perplexed expression, but remained silent. "You know that this op could be extremely dangerous. I know how dangerous the Meta Division is. They are not an enemy to be trifled with."

"What's your concern, Commander Bame?" The elite asked flatly.

Eric lowered his gaze. The harsh feeling of guilt and fear churned in his stomach. "There's a good chance that there will be casualties or even fatalities. I don't wish you to believe that I view your warriors as expendable troops."

N'tho placed his hand on the Spartan's shoulder. "Fear not, Spartan. My brothers would be honored to die for their homeworld and their brethren," he said in a low, but reassuring tone. Eric just nodded back and remained silent. "Let us go, human. It is time to purge this rogue human organization from this world."

With that said, the two commanders left the tent to prepare for the operation.

 **Date: January 24th, 2559, 2145 hours**

 **Location: Classified sector of Sanghelios**

 **Event: Mission Debriefing**

The night sky was clear with the sight of two of the planet's moons. It was very calming. Despite the calmness of the weather and the gentle breeze blowing through the campfires and torches, the air was heavy with anticipation and suspense. Tyler felt this overwhelming feeling in his gut which was a mixture of eagerness and fear. Eagerness because he wanted to prove his worth to the division. Then there was fear of the unknown. He told himself that he was ready for an actual real world mission based on his and his team's performance in the wargames. However, he heard the stories about the previous mission on LV-426. The stories he heard from Spartan Spade were nothing more than horrific. Being trapped in a Xenomorph Hive. Being chased by a giant bug called a Praetorian. Being swarmed by endless waves of bugs. It was something he could not understand because he simply was not there. He did not know what he was dealing with. On the other hand, he was glad that Commander Bame and the other Spartans were part of this operation. At least they have experience with these monsters, Bame especially.

Shaking his head to get himself out of his trance, Tyler cracked his knuckles, then placed a few more clips for his silenced SMG and his DMR around his belt and glanced around at his Fireteam. Scythe's attention was completely focused on the scope of his sniper rifle, attempting to sight in the rifle. Around his waist were several magazines for the rifle and his silenced assault rifle. James was cleaning the barrel of his silenced battle rifle. On his back, was another silenced SMG. Angel was loading shotgun shells into the belt attached to his left arm. His secondary weapon was also a silenced SMG.

Tyler then looked around at the other personnel that littered the campground. He noticed Carboni having a private talk with Porsche, most likely discussing about his wounds from the previous mission. Mounted on his back, Porsche boasted a DMR, silenced and equipped with a recon scope, and a tactical magnum, magnetized to his thy. Carboni seemed to be in good fighting condition. It was obvious to Tyler that Carboni was attempting to reassure his Fireteam leader. Besides him, both Spade and Frost were completely fine. They were both loading their ammunition around their belts and placing their weapons on their backs. Tyler noticed that both of them were wielding Pulse rifles and flamethrowers. The sight of those weapons caused him to grin. _Bringing real firepower, eh?_

As for his leaders, he saw Commander Bame loading several magazines around his waist for his SAW which had green camouflage. His secondary weapon was also silenced SMG with a COG sight. Next to him, Morales was wielding a silenced assault rifle and a silenced battle rifle. Tyler noticed that there were a few extra metallic compartments attached to his armor, most likely in case if they found any valuable intelligence.

Tyler then glanced around at the three elite strike teams. Most of them wielded energy swords and plasma rifles. He also noticed two of them wielding beam rifles. He smirked at the sight and looked over to Scythe. He knew that he was going to be very competitive with those two elite snipers. He then glanced back at one of the strike teams and one of the elites caught his attention. After a closer look, he realized that the elite was the same female elite he saw when he first arrived to the camp. Just after attaching her sword to her leg armor, the female elite caught Tyler staring at her. Tyler quickly turned his gaze away in embarrassment and acted like he was busy gearing up, which he failed to play off.

In the corner of his eye, he realized that the female elite was walking toward him, causing his heart to skip a beat. Before he allowed himself to panic, he quickly got to his feet and turned towards the female elite. Surprisingly enough for Tyler, she stood several inches taller than himself, despite being a female elite.

"Is there something you would like to say, human?" The female elite asked. To much of Tyler's surprise, the tone of her voice was rather smooth and slightly higher pitched than her male counterparts. Tyler was expecting her voice to be more raspy.

He snapped himself out of his trance and cleared his throat. "No, ma'am. Just never seen a female elite up close. I've uh...I've only seen theoretical pictures of your kind." he said nervously. "This is all just, really new to me," Tyler commented, followed with a chuckle.

The female elite cocked her head at his Spartan as if she did not know how to take his comments. "Us, Sangheili women were previously purposed to be protectors of the young and to our home planet as the men fight for the Covenant. It was forbidden of us to fight alongside them," she stated. "Until now. After the Great Schism, the Arbiter exposed the prophets' lies and changed our blinded lifestyle to a more honorable one. Thanks to him, I may fight alongside the men for Sanghelios."

Tyler was taken aback by the elite's short story because it was something he was not expecting to hear. Attempting to make things less awkward, he nodded his head in acceptance. "I'm glad to hear that. As if genocide wasn't enough for the prophets, they just had to be sexist too," he laughed. The joke also earned him a small grin across her face. After a momentary glance, Tyler lifted his hand to the female elite. "I'm Tyler Eilen. Nice to meet you."

The female elite briefly looked at his hand wondering what he was doing, but then she realized it was a harmless act to greet her, so she brought her hand to his and shook it. "Indeed it is, Tyler Eilen. I am Rane 'Nosol."

Tyler nodded his head. "You can just call me Tyler, if you like."

Rane 'Nosol bowed her head. "If you wish." She then glanced around at the rest of the Spartan's Fireteam with a curious expression. "You all seem at unrest about this mission."

Tyler glanced at his members whose attentions were now given to Rane. "Yeah, well," he hesitantly murmured. "This is our first op."

Rane looked back him with a partially confused expression. "You mean you have never encountered one of these black serpents you speak of?"

Tyler shook his head in embarrassment. "That would be a negative for me personally, ma'am. A handful of us have, but most of us are completely in the dark. Hopefully our training simulations prepared us well for this op."

Their conversation was interrupted by Commander Bame who approached them with his SAW in his hands. Both Rane and Tyler greeted the Spartan Commander with a nod and bow. Eric glanced at both of them for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Gear up. The phantoms are here."

Tyler quickly nodded his head. "Of course, sir." He looked back and noticed that his team were on their feet with their primary weapons out. Tyler shrugged and looked back to Eric. "We are ready, sir," he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Eric took a momentary glance at his Spartan, then chuckled at his reply. "Well, then move your team to the LZ." He patted Tyler's shoulder and proceeded to walk towards the landing zone.

After the Spartan Commander was out of hearing distance, Tyler looked back over to Rane 'Nosol. "See you on the island, Rane. I'll watch your back."

Rane bowed her head. "I shall watch yours as well, Tyler," she replied in her smooth tone. With that, she rejoined her strike team.

Tyler turned around to look at his teammates to see them giving each other quick glances. Suddenly, he heard both Scythe and Angel laughing in their helmets.

"I see you have a thing for female elites, _Tyler_ ," Angel mocked.

Tyler's initial reaction was to lose his temper at the jab, but stopped himself before he started a scene with his teammate. Instead, he laughed along and cocked his head. "Call me the elite master," he joked back in a sarcastic tone.

Scythe nodded and shrugged at his comment. " _Elitemaster_ , eh? What're you, trying to be her master? Be an alien pimp?" Scythe slyly commented in his british accent. He then snickered and patted his leader's shoulder. "That's what I'm going to call you for now on, _Elitemaster_."

Tyler shook his head at his comment, but he couldn't suppress a smile forming across his face. "Great," he said in a regretful tone. Every inch of his essence screamed for him to loathe the new nickname, but deep down, he couldn't help himself to hate it. In fact, he really loved it.

"Let's go Spartans," Morales' voice called out to Fireteam Aries. "Double time!"

The Spartans formed up and jogged to one of the green phantoms. They came to the gravity lift and slowly floated up into the alien aircraft. As soon as their feet hit the floor of the phantom, Tyler was fascinated by the intricate design of the phantom's interior. He had never been inside a phantom before. The walls had a smooth design with both chartreuse green and purple lights along the edges. The wall near the cockpit had a weapons station with several plasma based weaponry and a few energy swords. Iono 'Vandam, along with a few of his members of his strike team, were choosing their weapons of choice. Iono pulled a distinct looking energy sword and activated it, revealing a light-orange energy blade. Tyler's eyes widened at the sight of the blade.

"That blade looks sweet," Tyler commented as he took a few steps towards the elite.

Iono lifted his gaze towards his Spartan ally with a serious expression. "This blade has served me well in countless battles, even during the great war against your kind," he stated in a low tone.

The comment caused the Spartans to glance around at each with perplexed and slightly concerned expressions. Tyler's heart dropped but he suppressed himself from looking intimidated, so he decided to nod at the elite's comment. "I see," was all he could say.

Iono knew that his comment shook the Spartans up a bit and he deactivated his sword. "Fear not, demons. We now fight alongside each other," he said hoping to reassure the Spartans. However, their body language remained unchanged. Iono let out an annoyed grunt and turned back to the weapon station. After glancing through one of the cabinets, he pulled out two energy sword hilts and turned back to the Spartans.

"I recognize Spartans as worthy opponents. I once had the honor to fight one during the Battle of Reach. It was during the final days. He dispatched several of my brothers only with a short metallic blade. When it was time for both of us to duel, I tossed him my other energy sword. He was a formidable opponent," he said as he bowed his head in respect. "The demon was very skilled in the swordsmanship arts. I nearly lost my life, but I emerged victorious."

Tyler glanced at his fellow teammates with a puzzled expression. The story was fascinating, but he could feel his heart quickly fill with rage. He clenched his fist and took a small step forward the elite, but before he released the rage from his body, the elite continued on.

"After our duel, I honored his skills and his persistence. I gave him that energy sword to take with him on his journey into the afterlife. Besides the demon that the Arbiter fought alongside against the Prophet of Truth, I truly honor this human's skill and his will," he practically whispered as he lifted his head towards the Spartans. "I see now that you Spartans are his legacy, and I am honored to fight alongside you. As tokens of my esteem, I offer you two of my personal energy swords," he said as he lifted up the two energy sword hilts.

Tyler's fists eased after the elite's complement and looked down at the two sword hilts. "Thank you, Iono 'Vandam. I am honored," he replied as he slowly took both hilts from the elite's hands. Iono bowed his head in respect.

Tyler turned around and handed one of the hilts to Angel who happily took the sword. Both Spartans proceeded to activate the energy swords which revealed the energy blades. To their surprise, they realized that both of the blades had a deep blue hue in contrast to the standard lighter blue energy swords.

"They are much more efficient than the standard energy swords you have seen. The sword you have," he said pointing at Tyler, "is named the Ravening Silver. Yours," he said pointing at Angel, "is named the Ravening Star. I ask that you take good care of them. They have served me well."

"We will," Tyler said in gratitude as he deactivated his new sword. "May I ask what your sword, there, is named?" He asked Iono in curiosity, pointing at his hilt.

Iono grabbed his energy sword's hilt and activated the blade, once again revealing the light-orangish blade. "This blade is known as Vorpal Talon."

Tyler acknowledged him by nodding his head. "Sweet name."

"Thank you, Spartan," the elite replied.

Commander Bame's transponder suddenly appeared on Tyler's HUD. "Alright team. It's going take a little bit for us to get to our destination. Most likely an hour max. So enjoy yourselves while you can, because once we get there, chances are we are going to be in for it. Got it, Spartans?"

"Yes, sir," Porsche replied through the network.

"Of course, sir," Morales said back.

Tyler opened up his transponder. "Got it, sir."

"Good. I'll radio back in once we get close. Commander Bame out," he said as he closed his radio transponder.

Tyler turned his gaze to his teammates. "You heard him, boys. Make yourself comfortable."

 **Date: January 24th, 2559, 2307 hours**

 **Location: Remote Island several miles south of Sunaion, Sanghelios**

 **Event: Mission Launch on Possible Secret Meta Division Base**

Eric's eyes flickered open when he was suddenly nudged by Spartan Morales. He quickly got to his feet and looked at the Spartan. "We there, Ivan?"

Ivan nodded his head. "Yessir. The phantoms are inbound and are about to drop us off in a few moments."

Eric nodded his head and activated his transponder on the radio. "Attention, Spartans. We are just about to our destination. Ready up," he stated. The other two Fireteam leaders acknowledged his statement.

Eric walked up to N'tho 'Sraom who was next to the pilot in the cockpit. "You ready for this, Commander?" He asked the elite.

"Of course, Spartan. I instructed the other two phantoms to land their troops in two other positions. Iono's phantom will be taking the troops to the higher ground on the northern part of the island. The other phantom will be landing on the western part. Then ours will land on the southern part," he informed the Spartan Commander.

"Understood," Eric replied. He activated his transponder once again and called to the leader of Fireteam Aries. "Spartan Eilen," he called.

"Yes sir?" The Spartan replied back.

"Your team will be taking the high ground with Iono's strike team. Have Scythe call out anything he sees. He and the other two elite snipers will be our eyes on this op," he ordered the Spartan.

"You got it, sir," Tyler replied. "You hear that, Scythe?"

Scythe's transponder appeared on Eric's HUD. "Yes I did, sir. I'll keep you updated on visuals, Commander."

"Thanks Scythe. Porsche, you read?" Eric called the leader of Fireteam Jaeger.

"Loud and clear," Porsche quickly replied back.

"Good. Your team and the elite strike team will be making their way towards the center of the island from the west. Stay quiet. If you see any Meta activity, be sure to radio it in," Eric ordered the Spartan.

"Acknowledged, Commander," Porsche replied flatly.

"My team will be making their way to the center of the island from the south. I'll mark the rendezvous point on your HUDs. The rendezvous point is an entrance of a giant cave system. I should make it there before your team, Porsche," Eric informed the Spartan.

"Understood, Commander."

"Alright, good luck Spartans. Commander Bame out."

The phantom lowered to the beach and the gravity lift entrance opened up. Both Eric and Ivan were the first to exit the phantom. Behind them was N'tho 'Sraom and his strike team along with Ryza 'Zykurous. The interspecies strike team formed up in the cover of darkness at the edge of the jungle. Eric proceeded to make a headcount of each member of his team. Two Spartans, including himself, then 'Sraom, Ryza, and four other highly skilled elites. _Eight personnel, got it,_ he thought to himself. He then drew his silenced SMG and activated the COG sight.

"Commander, I will take point," Eric said to 'Sraom. 'Sraom nodded as he drew his plasma rifle out from his belt. Eric looked over to Ivan who wielded his silenced battle rifle. "Stay on my six," he ordered.

Ivan nodded and got behind his commander. N'tho signalled to the other four elites to spread out and move into the jungle behind the Spartan Commander. Eric took several steps into the jungle and realized that it nearly pitch black. He activated his night vision module on his HUD and glanced around at all the alien flora. It was remarkably similar to the rainforests he saw on Reach and Earth. There was only one thing that stood out. Silence. The forest was dead silent. Eric stopped in his tracks and glanced around the forest.

Ivan moved up behind his commander. "See something?"

Eric shook his head. "No, that's not it. You hear that?" He whispered back.

Ivan took a moment to listen to anything besides the rustling of the leaves from the wind, but he couldn't hear anything. "I don't hear anything, Commander," he whispered back.

"Exactly. There's nothing," Eric replied back.

The realization caught Ivan off guard and he quickly scanned his surroundings.

"No birds, insects. Nothing. It's completely silent in here," Eric said again. He glanced back to Ryza and snapped his fingers to get his attention. "Ryza, is it supposed to be this quiet in here?"

Ryza shook his head. "No. We should be hearing some of the nocturnal wildlife. This is very strange."

"Agreed. This doesn't make any sense," Eric replied back. He activated his transponder and called out to the other two teams. "Porsche, Eilen. Do you hear anything?"

After a moment, Porsche replied back. "No sir. Dead silence."

Tyler called back through the radio. "Same here, Commander. I'm not hearing anything at all."

"Acknowledged. Keep your guards up, Spartans. Something is definitely up on this island," Eric informed his Spartans.

"I'm not reading any heat sigs, Commander," Scythe informed through the radio.

"I see," Eric replied back. "Switch your view to night vision. We may be dealing with Xenos. You all copy?"

"Copy that," the other Spartans replied.

Eric glanced back at his team. "Commander, make sure your elites are aware that we may encounter Xenomorphs. Your plasma weaponry will be very effective against them," he said merely in a whisper.

"They are aware, Commander Bame. We are ready for anything," N'tho replied back in a quieter tone.

"Okay, good. We are proceeding to the Nav Point," Eric stated.

The joint strike team continued to move deeper into the rainforest with only two klicks left to the destination. Eric brushed through the alien bushes and shrubs. Still, the jungle remained void from any fauna noises. The deeper they pushed through the jungle, the louder each step was. Almost to the point where every pace was deafening.

Suddenly, Scythe called through the radio. "Commander," he whispered through the radio causing Eric and his team to halt.

"What is it, Scythe?"

"I am picking up a few vague visuals. Seems like we aren't alone in this jungle," he informed.

"What did you see, Scythe?" Eric said in a low rough tone.

"Pretty sure I saw something cloaked sprinting south towards your position. It's hard to tell, but the elites said they thought they saw it too," Scythe replied clearly.

"Movement speed?" Eric questioned.

"Super fast, sir. Very swift," Scythe replied.

"Shit. These aren't Xenos," Eric said to himself. He quickly looked back to N'tho. "We aren't dealing with Xenomorphs. Tell your elites to keep their guards up. We are also dealing with Yautja."

"My snipers just notified me as well," N'tho simply replied. "You say they tend to remain in active camouflage, yes?"

"Yes, bring your elites closer in. We are being hunted," Eric whispered in a grave tone. His alarming news caused the rest of the team, both Spartan and Sangheili, to thoroughly observe their surroundings in the jungle. Eric quickly activated his transponder and called to Porsche's team. "Porsche, you read?"

"Loud and clear, sir," he quickly replied back.

Eric let out a light exhale of relief when he heard his voice. "Good. Be on guard for cloaked contacts. Even though Scythe said that he only saw a few contacts coming at my team doesn't mean there aren't any coming to you."

"Of course, sir. We will be on the lookout," Porsche replied back.

"Good. Stay on standby," Eric ordered. He checked his wrist pad which showed the coordinates of Porsche's team from his position. "You are roughly four and a half klicks from my position. If anything does happen, I want us to regroup as soon as possible. Until then, proceed to the Nav Point."

"Got it, Commander. On standby," Porsche assured Eric.

Eric nodded and glanced around at the members of his team. He was pleased to see that were still eight of them here. However, they were still in a very bad situation. He knew that the Yautja were very silent killers. The cover of darkness was supposed to be their ally on this mission, but the situation quickly changed when he found out that those deadly trophy hunters were in the mix. The fact that they were present on this random remote island on Sanghelios made him question why they were even here in the first place. Obviously they weren't here to hunt. Eric knew that he wasn't completely sure, but it never hurt to have the benefit of the doubt. After contemplating on what his choices were, he turned to N'tho.

"Commander, can you and your elites track camouflaged entities?"

N'tho slightly shrugged. "Indeed we can by sight. Although, if these predators are using a camouflage device that was designed differently than ours or what the Covenant once had, then I am concerned that we may not be able to track them at all. Our devices are calibrated to search for our cloaking technology only, which was the same as to what the Covenant used."

Eric slightly bowed his head after hearing the alarming news. "This certainly doesn't help us. Keep your trackers online just in case. These predators had access to their own camouflaging technology during Operation Wildfire," he informed as he reflected on his first encounter with Swiftblade when he and his old Fireteam came across him in the crashed cruiser. Suddenly, he remembered that he and his team were able to pick him up on their motion trackers. He quickly turned back to the elite commander. "We may still be able to pick them up on our motion trackers on our HUD."

The moment he said that, he spotted several red pings coming into view on his motion tracker in the corner of his eye. Instantly, he raised a fist, causing the rest of the team to crouch and take aim around their surroundings. He quickly looked over to Ivan.

"You reading this?" He whispered.

Ivan quickly nodded as he aimed his battle rifle in a direction of a ping. "Yeah. Four contacts on my ten, twelve, one, and three o'clock."

"Same here," Eric whispered as he took aim with his SAW. Without any warning, the red pings disappeared which meant that they were standing their ground.

N'tho gathered his elites closer to the group and murmured something in his native tongue to them. Two elites drew their energy swords and activated their blades, lighting up the group's surroundings. The other three gathered behind them with their plasma rifles in their hands.

Eric slightly turned his head to N'tho, still keeping his eyes down range. "Can you see any of them, Commander?"

N'tho let out a low groan. "I'm afraid not."

"They are very close," Eric replied. With the help of the light that the energy swords gave out, he glanced around in the trees above them. "They must be in the trees. Keep your guard up."

Very suddenly in the corner of his eye, a light blue oscillating ball of energy started to light up above a tree branch. Eric instinctively pointed the end of the barrel to his SAW at the blue ball of energy and squeezed the trigger, sending waves of bullets at the trees. The sound of machine gun fire made any of the life forms in the vicinity fly or scuttle away in the opposite direction. Gunfire echoing throughout the forest, making their position known immediately.

Tyler quickly made his way to look over the ridge where he and his team were posted for overwatch, looking down at the flash of each shot lighting up the area below him. "Son of a bitch..." he mumbled to himself before looking to Oliver, "Scythe! See if you can find what Bame is shooting at! It looks like they're in the trees! Not the ground!"

Oliver growled at Eilens command, already one step ahead of him "I got it, I got it!" He said, aiming down the scope of his sniper, and searching for anything within the branches of the trees that would catch his eye. A hint was all he needed, a shimmer, a wobble of a tree branch, any kind of sign that would show him where the enemy was at. When a glow of blue light came to view in the corner of his eye, immediately, almost like a reflex, Oliver swiveled his sniper to point the crosshairs where they needed to be. Guiding the length of the barrel, pointing it straight to his target. That's when he squeezed the trigger, sending the sniper round into the plasma weapon of the hiding predator, causing an explosion and having the dangerous creature fall to the ground with a splatter of neon yellowish, greenish blood. Its active camo dissipated, exposing the alien to the naked eye. The head was nowhere to be found, most likely because of the explosion that went off right next to its neck.

One of the elites that was sniping along with Oliver looked intrigued "good shot human, that was most impressive." The complement brought a smirk to the Spartans face, but soon, the other elite spoke up.

"Lucky shot..." the second sniper said, scoffing at the praise his comrade had given to the human.

"What? Lucky my ass! That was pure sk-"

"Oliver! Can it! Focus on your next target!" Ty shouted at his enraged partner. He knelt down just on the edge of the cliff looking over their area, they could all see plasma bolts and tracer rounds shooting through the trees. "Give 'em hell Bame..." Eilen murmured to himself.

N'tho had been watching his comrades shoot aimlessly into the trees, as a feeble attempt to hit anything that would have caught their eye. He growled realizing they were in a very bad position, with the enemy having the upper hand. He turned toward Ivan and clasped his shoulder, shouting over the sound of his gunfire. "Spartan! Do you have any equipment to knock out their cloaking systems?"

Ivan stopped and glanced at N'tho behind him. "Not that I am aware of no! I don't think we grabbed any EMP grenades with us!" It only took him a second to realize the two larger Spartans with their flamethrowers to come up with an idea "But I can do you one better!" Ivan pressed his two left fingers to his helmet to radio Bame. "Sir! We could use the flamethrowers to flush them out of the brush and trees"

Bame stopped shooting to listen to Ivan for a moment. The growls and bellows from the trees along with the sound of gunfire and plasma rifles was plenty loud "Do you have a backup plan Morales?"

"With all due respect sir, do you?"

That statement made Bame think for a moment. They were counting on smaller forces to guard the outsides and deal with tougher foes on the inside. Using the flamethrowers was a good idea, but they had to hope they wouldn't burn down with the forest in the process. Commander Bame turned his comms back on to signal the flamethrower-wielding spartans. "Spade, Frost, light 'em up"

"With pleasure sir" Spade responded with a chuckle from Frost. Almost immediately the two lit up the tops of the trees with fire. The flames engulfed everything, setting it ablaze.

N'tho and the other Sangheili Warriors stood back and watched in awe. Ivan could hear them mumbling, "by the gods..." or something in their native tongue.

Tyler and his Fireteam looked down at the forest being set on fire and their eyes filled with concern.

"Holy fucking hell" Ty mumbled to himself as Commander Iono approached Eilen and gripped his shoulder, spinning him around and pointing to the flames furiously.

"What is going on down there? What are you demons doing?"

Scythe quickly responded by getting up and setting his sniper down. "Hey! Put him down! Or I'll-"

Ty held his hand up to Scythe, "Scythe, shut up," The leader of Fireteam Aries looked Iono directly in the eyes, and spoke very calmly. "Sir, respectfully, our troops must be using their flamethrowers to flush out the enemies, it's a controlled fire sir, it won't spread very far"

One of the Sangheili using the beam rifle confirmed Tyler's words. "He's right commander! The fire isn't spreading very far, and I'm starting to see the shimmers from the cloaking devices!"

Iono huffed and looked down at Eilen, letting go of him before stepping back. "Fine, Spartan."

Ty nodded his head and looked back down to the fire then to Oliver. "Scythe, see if you can find any of the Predators through your scope now, their cloaking devices should be reflecting the light from the fire."

Scythe looked to Iono carefully before nodding his head and picking his sniper backup and taking Pot-shots with the other snipers to his side. While Tyler knelt down shaking slightly from adrenaline and fear from being in the Elite's grasp, and shouting at Scythe. It made his stomach churn, but these were the things that would slowly push him to being a better leader, finally growing a pair.

Bame looked up at the flames and would occasionally see a body fall to the ground from either getting shot or burned to death. Out of the corner of his eye, something leaped from the tree and onto him, sending him plummeting into the dirt with one of these monsters on top of him. The creature extended a wrist blade that looked more like a claw than a blade. It wasn't wearing a mask either, its skin was burned and charred, and it was missing one of its eyes. The Predator roared and lifted its blades into the air to strike Bame down his helmet.


	9. Blackwater

His Spartan enhanced reflexes and survival instinct kicked in causing Eric to stop the predator's reptilian arm from thrusting its claw-like blade through his helmet. The Predator roared in anger, raising his other burned and charred up arm and slugging Eric in the gut. Eric coughed loudly at the impact but managed to the skew the Predator's blade wielding arm away from his face. The blade sunk into the soft jungle soil with much force. Eric grabbed the predator's neck like a vice grip and threw the enraged hunter off of him.

Eric was up to his feet before the predator could recover from the choking grip. He watched as his shield meter refilled on his HUD and then watched as the rest of his team surrounded the exhausted Predator. Three of the elites had their energy swords drawn the others had their plasma rifles drawn. Eric drew his magnum and took aim at the predator who was struggling to get to his feet.

As the charred and burned predator slowly pulled itself to its feet, Eric took the opportunity to study the predator's appearance.

The very sight of the predator before them sent everyone into shock. The mandibles, the hand structures, the muscular build of it, all these traits, are very similar to the Sangheili. The sight of it caused all the others gasp at how ugly the being was. However, Eric saw the other aspects of that he did not recognize with the predators that he has seen before. He noticed several circular artificial devices attached along the side of its head and in a symmetrical orientation on top of its head. In addition to the odd devices, Eric noticed that the predator's dreadlocks were cut off as well. He hasn't come across any predators without their dreadlocks.

Something was out of place. This predator was anything but like the others.

"By the Gods..." One Elite managed to mutter out while watching it. But the creature stood still for only a moment, before it attempted another lunge, only to be stopped immediately by the Sangheili commander, pushing his sword deep into the chest of the beast, and lifting the body over his own head.

"RRRAAGGHH!" Iono shouted, before dropping the body onto the forest floor and huffing lividly. "These demons will pay..."

"Something's not right," Eric said quickly after studying the dead predator's remains.

"What do you mean?" Ivan replied after walking next to his commander, glancing down at the strange alien.

"This predator does not look like the ones I've seen before," Eric stated as he crouched down at the body.

He took a quick glance at the remains and noticed that most of the scars on the predator were not caused by the forest fire that Eric and the rest of his squad failed to pay attention to. There wasn't any time for him to study the body. The fire will engulf the rest of the forest in a matter of minutes.

"Sir, the fire is getting out of hand. What are your orders?" Porsche called in through the channel.

Eric quickly glanced around at the spreading flames in the forest. Before he could make a reply, Iono 'Vandam called through the same channel.

"Spartan Commander, the forest fire that you caused is consuming most of the forest on this island. Your Spartan here has claimed that it was a _controlled_ fire! I do not approve of your choice, demon."

A spark of anger flared in Eric's gut. "Commander 'Vandam, my intention here is not to burn down your forest. However, if I did not order my Spartans to use their flamethrowers, I would be putting several of your warriors in danger to these predators."

"My warriors are formidable. I do not fear their safety against a few petty hunters. But hear me, human, I do not appreciate you burning down my forest," the Sangheili Commander barked back.

Eric looked over to N'tho who seemed indifferent about the current argument between the Spartan and Sangheili Commander. Eric gritted his teeth.

"Then consider us even for all of the worlds you burned in the past, Commander 'Vandam," Eric fired back.

There was no reply from the elite.

The Spartans in the entire op all exchanged shocked glances among each other.

"Did Bame really just say that?" Carboni whispered to his teammates. Both Frost and Spade were equally as surprised as their teammate.

Each member of Fireteam Aries felt a sheer awkwardness between them and the elites around them. Tyler decided that it was best to keep his distance from Iono who was visibly shaken up by the truthful jab from his Spartan Commander. The elite growled and took several steps away from the Spartans.

"Fireteam Jaeger, form up on my position," Eric quickly ordered after his jab.

"Yes, sir," Porsche called back. He looked over to his teammates and the elites and signaled them to follow.

Eric motioned for Ivan and N'tho to come over to the dead predator's body. The two gathered around as the rest of the elites formed a defensive perimeter around the leaders. With the forest fire slowly getting out of hand with several burning branches falling to the ground, Eric knew he had to make a call before he and his team were engulfed in the flames.

"Commander 'Sraom, we need to radio in one of your phantoms. This body could prove to be a huge asset to our mission. I need you to recover this body and air freight it back to your base, could you do that for me please?" Eric quickly ask.

N'tho glanced down at the body for a moment in confusion, wondering what the Spartan Commander's intention was. Whatever it was, he did not like it.

Eric continued on. "I also don't want to be responsible for your elites safety when infiltrating the base. My Spartans and I can handle it," he said.

N'tho looked back at the Spartan Commander with a stern expression across his mandibles. "I assure you that my brothers and sisters are more than capable on this mission."

Eric nodded in agreement. "I understand that, but I cannot have too many troops in that base. It'll be too cluttered and difficult to manage."

"I will withdraw most of my elites, Spartan. But I wish to have a few of my warriors raid it alongside you."

Eric nodded in a frustrated gesture. "Have it your way. I'll take the elites that are with Fireteam Jaeger, then. In return, I need you and your team to air freight this body to your base for further examination."

"It shall be done, Spartan," N'tho agreed. He barked out commands to the nearby elites to take the body and then began to retreat back to the beach. "I'll leave a few phantoms on standby to pick you up."

"I appreciate it, Commander 'Sraom," Eric thanked. He looked at Ivan and pointed at N'tho. "I need you to go with him, Ivan. I would like for you to be on one of those phantoms."

Ivan hesitantly nodded. "Yes, sir. Don't you need backup, sir?"

"This isn't my first rodeo, Ivan. I can handle myself," Eric assured as he picked up his SAW.

Ivan nodded again and proceeded along with the elites towards the beach.

Eric quickly got to his feet and activated a holographic visual of the island from his wrist pad. He moved the navigation point on the edge of the raging fire. He then radioed into Porsche's team. "Porsche, meet me at this location."

"Understood," Porsche radioed back.

Eric quickly brushed off the debris on his green camouflaged SAW then immediately dashed for towards the NAV point, hopping over several burning branches and jumping through flame patches. Before he knew it, he was out of the wildfire in a small clearing with tall grass that went up to his waist in height. His destination was only a quarter of a klick away, in sight, right on edge of a tree line. By how the wind blew through the grass field, he deduced that it was blowing in the direction of the wildfire now behind him.

The darkness of the night along with the wind blowing waves through the grass as well as the crackling of the fire in the distance caused Eric to feel very uneasy. He sensed an ambush within the grass. There had to be. A xenomorph could very well spring a trap. The flickering light from the flames did not serve as a good source of light. Behind that, the crackling noises from the fire also hindered any hope to hear something moving through the grass. There wasn't much that Eric could work with.

With his SAW held at waist level, Eric scanned the field looking for any signs of life while slowly making his way towards the NAV point. He could almost mistake his own heart beat for the sound of his helmet's motion sensor. Part of him wished that he did not order Porsche's Spartans to scorch the forest. Silence would certainly help out in this situation. Feeling an intense sensation of anticipation, he came to a halt in the middle of the field. His index finger moved to his wrist pad and activated the coms channel.

"Spartan Scythe, you read?"

A few seconds passed by. Finally the sniper called back. "Standing by, sir."

"I'm activating my distress beacon. Check your HUD and see if you can see where I am at," Eric ordered him as he pressed the distress command on his helmet, revealing a pulsating indicator through his visor.

Almost immediately, Scythe spotted his Commander's distress beacon. "I see you, Commander. You're not far from your NAV point." He checked around Bame for the other troops but did not spot any Spartans or Sangheili. "Why are you alone, Commander?"

"I'm meeting up with Porsche's team. Do me a favor and scan my vicinity for any movement with your infrared. I can't see much down here."

Scythe activated his infrared and began to scan the area around Bame. After a few sweeps, he did not spot any heat signatures or movement. "I'm not seeing anything, Commander. I'll keep my eye on you."

Eric glanced over the cliff in the distance to see two beam rifle glares and a glare from Scythe's sniper rifle. He nodded a thank you to the Spartan and continued on towards the NAV point. Thankfully, the noise from the raging fire began to die down in the distance, easing his nerves.

"Commander," Porsche called through the radio. "We are half a klick away from the rendezvous point, but I believe we found the entrance to the facility."

"Alright, stay there, then. I'll come to you. Activate your beacon and I'll be there in a few moments," Eric replied back. "I'm glad he stumbled across it, one less thing to worry about," he said to himself.

A few seconds later, Porsche's beacon marker popped in his HUD. His team was not very far away. He dashed into the treeline for the rendezvous point as quickly as he could.

"Don't worry, sir. I'm watching your beacon as you go. I'll let you know if I see anything," Scythe assured his commander.

As Eric continued sprinting through the forest, he couldn't help but notice that he was the only thing making any noise. It was extremely silent. No crickets or anything. Finally, he saw four Spartan indicators on his HUD, then eight green dots on his motion tracker. He slowed his pace and rushed through the bushes. On the other side, he spotted his Spartans and the other four elites in a defensive position looking in his direction.

"Glad you could join us, sir," Porsche greeted his commander.

"Good to be here too. Where's the facility's entrance?" Eric asked the fireteam leader.

Porsche pointed behind the group at a cement entrance nearly overgrown with the indigenous flora. Taking a few steps to get a better look at the entrance, Eric studied the it for a few moments. His eyebrows lowered in puzzlement. The entrance looks like it hasn't been open in centuries. There did not seem to be any security cameras or defensive systems applied around it. Very slowly, Eric began to approach the entrance with his SAW hilted at his hip. The rest of the Spartans and elites followed suit behind him.

When the team finally walked into view, the elites were murmuring words in their native tongue. Eric noticed this and turned to them.

"What's the matter?" He asked them.

The female Sangheili, he knew as Rane, turned to him with a confused expression. "This architecture does not match anything I've ever seen on Sanghelios."

"Yeah it looks more like our kind of architecture," Carboni commented. His comment earned him strange expressions from the rest of his Fireteam. Carboni sheepishly shrugged his shoulders after noticing his fellow Spartans' body language. "What? We're all thinking it."

Eric looked back and nodded in agreement. "He's right. This definitely looks human. They must have made an effort to make it look deserted."

Eric studied the flora surroundings guarding the entrance. Guarding it was going to be a stretch. After glancing at his fellow Spartans and elite allies, he found out that he did not have enough men to guard the entrance. _Smooth,_ he scolded to himself remembering that he ordered his whole squad to retreat. He was going to need a few Spartans from Aries.

"Spartan Eilen, you read?" Eric called out.

"Standing by, commander," Eilen immediately replied back.

"I need you and Spartan Gutierrez to get on a phantom and come to my position ASAP. Keep Scythe there with Rodriguez."

"Understood, sir," Tyler said.

"Commander 'Vandam. Requesting a phantom dropship to ferry my Spartans over to my position," Eric asked, hoping that the elite would simply comply.

After a moment of silence, Iono called back through the channel. "It will be done, Spartan," the elite commander replied in a low gruff tone.

"Much appreciated," Eric thanked him.

Glancing around at the rest to team who were waiting for an order, he began to point at several of them. "Porsche, Spade," he began, pointing at them. "You're coming with me along with Eilen and Gutierrez." Looking over to Frost and Carboni, "you two guard the entrance."

Both Frost and Carboni nodded. "Yes, sir."

Eric focused his gaze on Frost and pointed at his flamethrower. "Keep that fire hot. We may not be alone out here yet," he commented while looking up around the trees.

"You don't have to ask me twice, sir. I'll scorch any hostiles that come across us," he said with a smirk behind his visor.

"Good."

Eric then looked over to the elite strike team leader who was wielding a plasma repeater, a weapon that he has not seen since the Fall of Reach. However, the repeater had a totally different color scheme than what it use to look like back then. This weapon was more red and the plasma current at the end of the muzzle had a much darker hue.

Redirecting his attention back to the elite officer, he began to speak. "Strike team leader, care to join us?" He asked flatly.

The elite bowed his head. "Of course, Spartan," he spoke in a low gruff tone. He then pointed at two of his elite brethren and spoke to them in his native tongue. The two elites bowed to their leader and glanced at both Carboni and Frost. He then signaled Rane to fall in line behind him, then moved his gaze back to the Spartan Commander.

Lowering his SAW down past his waist, Eric cleared his throat and slightly cocked his head. "Strike team leader seems a little too long to say in tight situations. Is there another alias you go by, Strike team leader?" Eric asked politely.

The elite let out an amused huff and nodded. "Yes, of course. You may call me Sotan if you so wish," the elite said.

Eric nodded in his Shinobi helmet. "Alright, Sotan. Call me Bame. Faster than saying Spartan Commander." Sotan bowed his head. Eric continued on, naming the other two Spartans. "This is Porsche," he introduced, pointing at the Fireteam leader. "And this is Spade," he then said pointing at Spade.

Sotan merely glanced at the other two Spartans and remained quiet. He then proceeded to introduce the female elite by his side. "This is my trusted shield-sister, Rane," he introduced. "She has been by my side since the Arbiter formed the Swords of Sanghelios."

"The Spartan Commander and I have greeted before," she said in a strikingly feminine tone that somewhat shocked both Porsche and Spade.

Eric nodded at the statement. "Yes we have. You were speaking to the leader of Fireteam Aries, Tyler Eilen."

Rane bowed her head in agreement.

Eric's head then turned around and looked up to the sky. "Speaking of which," he began as he opened the channel. "Eilen, Gutierrez. What's your ETA?"

"Eminent, Commander. We should be coming into view now," Tyler replied back through the channel.

The phantom's lights suddenly came into view through the small openings in the canopy, followed by the familiar hum of its engine running. Then without warning, a green light flashed through the leaves and shined straight down to the ground near the team. Very gradually, both Spartans from Fireteam Aries descended down to the ground, nearly angelically. As their boots hit the ground, the two Spartans pulled their primary weapon off their back and walked up their commander.

"Glad you could join us, Spartans," Eric greeted. He looked back at Sotan to introduce the two Spartans.

Before he could speak, Tyler introduced himself. "Call me Tyler," he announced while nodding a hello to Rane, who gave him greeting by bowing her head.

Eric stopped himself from speaking and let out an annoyed huff. Figuring that there was no sense introducing Gutierrez himself, he turned his gaze towards the other Spartan and waited impatiently for a introduction.

After taking a glance at the supposed group infiltrating the base, Angel lifted his shotgun and rested it on his shoulder. "Angel. I go by Angel."

Eric faintly shook his head at the smug pose that Angel was in. After rolling his eyes, he turned his attention towards the entrance.

"Alright, there must be a simple way of opening this door," he muttered as he approached to the said entrance.

The entrance looked nothing like an entrance, in Tyler's eyes. "This is the entrance?" He asked in disbelief while looking at his fellow comrades. Porsche merely shrugged at his question. Tyler looked back it in a very confused expression. "There's not even a door here, though. There's just a cement wall in the center. How would we get in?"

Then out of the blue, the cement wall quickly lowered like a bay door revealing a bright white metallic door on the other side. The random event triggered both the Spartans and elites to quickly aim their weapons into the metallic hallway.

Angel slightly turned his head towards his Fireteam leader while still aiming down the sights of his shotgun. "I hope that answers your question, _Elitemaster_ ," he whispered.

Tyler let out an annoyed exhale. "Shut up, Angel."

"Just saying, bro," Angel replied in a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Quiet, you two," Eric quietly ordered.

Eric slowly made his way towards the metallic door at ease, praying that this was not a trap. As he approached the door entry pad, he studied the contents on it. Green command usually means open and so he pressed the button on the pad and the door immediately opened up revealing an empty hallway that lead straight to a white metallic front desk. The team slowly moved behind Eric with their weapons ready to fire.

"Something's not right," Spade quietly commented as he studied the clean path in front of him. The ceiling had several industrial grade lamps along with a few hidden camera stations. "They are watching us."

"I know," Eric replied. "Keep your chin up and be ready for anything."

"Shouldn't we do something about the cameras?" Spade mention while aiming at one.

"We could, they already know we're here, we might as well do something to prevent them from getting an advantage," Tyler followed up.

Angel smirked. "I agree with Elitemaster," he joked, giving Tyler a quick glance, hoping that he would see an amusing reaction from his Fireteam Leader. And he did see it. Angel caught the slightest uncomfortable twitch from him and he giggled to himself.

"Causing any excessive noise and making us any more known than we already are would only worsen the situation. They most likely are aware of our presence." Porsche advised flatly as he followed closely to the wall panels.

"Oh for the love of Go-" Tyler began to whisper to himself, but then instantly went silent when he caught Rane's annoyed expression. She stared in the Fireteam leader's position, signaling Tyler to cool it and focus on the mission, and he did.

Tyler suddenly began to smirk to himself after realizing just how influential women could be. _A woman is a woman regardless of species,_ he thought to himself. Her expression had a very familiar look to it, and it had similarities with a human female when she is annoyed. One of which that he would earn if he was about to irrationally lose his temper over something completely stupid or just not worth it, and he was very familiar with that woman's glare. At least he was familiar with it in the past. Very suddenly, his heart was filling up with sadness and betrayal after a rogue memory popped into his head that took place not long before he was recruited into Project Omega.

"They obviously know that we're here," Eric suddenly said, thankfully breaking Tyler's sudden trance of heartbreak.

"Then where are the guards?" Spade questioned as the team crossed another door threshold that led into the room with the front desk.

As the team secured the area, Eric took a moment to study the surroundings. The walls, floor, and ceiling were spotless. There was only one doorway and it behind the front desk. The front desk only had a terminal and swinging white chair behind it which was also cleaner than a whistle. Setting his SAW on the desk, Eric approached the terminal and turned on the monitor screen. The screen was completely locked up, guarded by a given username and an empty password key. After moving his head closer to get a better look at the characters, the given username was typed out to be "IUEMD-BW". The strange arrangement of characters completely baffled Eric. There was no way of knowing what they stand for.

"Well, the screen is locked up," Eric finally announced. "It's got to be the only way through that door."

Tyler lowered his shoulders in frustration. "Well, that's fantastic," he commented with pure sarcasm.

Very suddenly, the entrance door slammed shut, trapping the six inside the room. Eric instinctually grabbed his SAW and aimed at the door. The rest of team moved into a defensive position in the center of the room with their weapons drawn.

"What the fuck?" Tyler yelled out as he waved his gun around the room. "We're trapped in here!"

Suddenly, a deep voice echoed inside the room.

"So we finally meet at last, _Omega Bame_ ," the low monotonous voice announced. "I've heard so much about you. You truly _are_ a hero of humanity. At least based on what I can see on your.. _confidential_ service record." Smugness and ominousity was mixed in with the low voice's choice of vocabulary.

Each member of the team exchanged alarmed glances at each other. Eric lowered his SAW and focused his attention on the hidden camera in the corner of the room.

"Who are you?" Eric demanded.

"Oh, you must know who I am by now, _Omega Bame._ You've only been searching for me since the unfortunate incident that the UNSC called, what? Operation Wildfire? Yes, of course," the voice clearly stated out.

Eric's eyes widened. " _Blackwater_ ," he said in disbelief.

"You are correct," the voice replied. "It really is a pleasure finally meeting you, Omega Bame. However, I expected you to find me much sooner. But it matters not. Our paths were destined to collide."

"What do you want with us, Blackwater?" Eric questioned, disregarding the small talk.

"Well, I have not decided quite yet," Blackwater said in puzzlement. "I certainly do not wish to kill you or your team. In spite of that, I would like to show you and your team this facility. Care to go on a little tour?"

Eric glanced around at his fellow teammates for a moment. To him, this tour would certainly provide a major breakthrough of intel about the Meta Division. Something did tell him that Blackwater was not going to personally escort them through the complex. No secretive leader was going to simply give himself away.

The rest of his team was very wary and on high alert. Eric could tell that both Porsche and Tyler were clearly against the idea of accepting Blackwater's offer. On the other hand, Spade and Angel were acting fairly indifferent about the offer. The elites, however, were very ready for a fight.

"So are you going to show us around yourself?" Eric questioned, looking back up at the camera.

"I'm afraid I cannot personally walk you around myself, for obvious reasons I'm sure that you all can understand," he simply replied. "However, I will provide you a tour guide of my own that will show you the way around in my stead." Suddenly, the door behind the front desk unlocked, grabbing each of the team's attention. Each member aimed their weapons towards the door, ready for anything.

" _She_ may be a little intimidating when you first see her, but I assure you that she will not bite."

Eric gripped his SAW tighter. "What do you mean?"

"I ask that you lower your weapons. I assure you all that you will be perfectly safe," Blackwater said in his deep ominous tone.

"Bullshit," Tyler spat. "How do you expect us to trust what you're saying after you sent your predators to attack us?" He aggressively questioned, glaring up at the hidden camera.

"Do not always assume things are as you see it, Spartan.."

"Eilen," Tyler quickly filled in.

His quick reckless comment received several glances from his team, one of which that held extreme tension. Eric's blood began to boil at Tyler's reckless choice to make himself known, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Spartan Eilen, eh?" Blackwater smugly replied. "Well, Spartan Eilen, as I said before, do not assume things are as you see it. I did not _send_ my Yautja to attack you and your team. They were simply doing their job in defending this facility from a possible threat. And they were right in thinking so after your team burned down half of the forest."

 _So they are called Yautja,_ Eric thought to himself. "Speaking of which," Eric began, cutting Blackwater off from his rant. "Those _Yautja_ , as you call them, were not like the ones I've dealt with in the past. Yours had physical augmentations applied all across their body. What did you do to them?" He questioned in a stern tone.

"You are getting to ahead of yourself, Commander Bame. That is what the tour's purpose is," Blackwater flatly replied. "Anywho, all I ask is that you all keep your weapons lowered as I open this door. Understood?" He asked as politely as any other ominous person would.

Eric took a moment to assess what choices he had. Whatever choice he could make, he and his team would still be locked in this facility. There wasn't any other choice he could make without something going even more wrong.

Eric let out a frustrated exhale and lightly turned his head towards his team. "Lower your weapons," he ordered them. They all looked at him in disbelief. Eric waved his hand at them. "Just do it."

After a moment of silence, each member of the team lowered their weapons. Eric gave them all a nod of gratitude.

"I appreciate your cooperation, Spartans," Blackwater commented. " _And_ from you as well, Elites." His emphasis on the way he said 'elites' caught Eric's attention for a moment. "Alright. Let's begin our tour."

The door behind the front desk suddenly opened up, grabbing the team's attention. The first thing they all noticed was a large dark serpent-like being standing on the other side of the threshold. There was no doubt in any of their minds, it was a Xenomorph. Instantaneously, they all aimed their weapons at the serpent.

"Good God almighty of the heavens and the Earth..." Tyler murmured to himself.

"Hold your fire!" Eric shouted at the top of his lungs. He quickly glanced up at the hidden camera with an enraged expression behind his visor. "This is your _tour guide_ , Blackwater? A fucking Xenomorph?"

"This Xenomorph answers to me. And she won't attack you unless I tell her to," Blackwater exclaimed.

The Xenomorph calmly took one step through the door, revealing all of its physical features to the team. It merely glanced at each member in a docile manner. Its physically features were completely different from what the Spartans have seen in their training. However, Eric was very familiar with its appearance. Judging by its sheer size and its mandibles around its mouth, it was a Xenomorph that was cocooned inside a Sangheili.

The creature looked nothing short of a demon in reality. Whatever Blackwater had done to this Sangheili Xenomorph, it seemed to have worked. The creature stood taller than both Elites in the room, and seemed to have the same amount of muscle mass while still retaining her female features. A slim waist, a rounder facial structure, a somewhat protruding chest, etc. Her mandibles bared sharp teeth that pointed outward and curved back towards her mouth. She still was missing a chin as well, just like the Elites did. However, her inner jaw seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth, and slithered around, like it was wetting her non-existent cheeks. The sleek black skin gleamed and shined from the bright lights of the room they were all trapped in while large three foot spines twitched and wriggled all over her back.

Not only did this creature have a pair of long arms that ended with similar hand structure as the Elites, but on the end of each finger, a long six inch knife-like claw stuck out. She didn't appear to have eyes, instead, she had a more defined set of nostrils that would flare each time she sniffed the air. Her legs were toned as well appearing to be more muscular than the average Sangheili, which could only mean that she was meant to chase down prey and leap high. Concluding that running was not really an option for the team. Her long snake like tail swished and swayed back and forth as she "watched" the Spartans and Elites in front of her, the long spike at the end of it occasionally scraping against the walls and floor beneath her.

Her head however resembled more of an Elite than it did of a Xenomorph, despite it having a slight extrusion on the rear side of it. Although, the extrusion was still short enough to connect to a muscular neck that attaches to its back normally.

The one detail that stuck out the most however, were the blue lights that seemed to run along the sides of her head, and down her spine, digging into the chitinous layer of her exoskeleton. They glowed a little bit, not enough to cause an issue if stared at them too long, but could shadow her figure if the lights dimmed or completely shut off. The devices were close, if not, the same as the ones that Eric saw on the dead Yautja that the Elites recovered for him. Although, it was safe to assume that whatever those devices do, it made the Xenomorph almost completely docile. Eric's seen Elite Xenomorphs before and they were much more vicious than the standard warriors, which meant to him that these devices were obviously responsible for the Xenomorph's docile behavior towards his team.

"Why are there devices along its head?" Eric asked despite having a good idea of what the answer would be.

"I am certain that you understand the animalistic behavior of a typical Xenomorph, Bame. Let's just say that I tamed her, myself. Those devices make her obligated to obey my command as if I were her queen," Blackwater simply replied. "Shall we start the tour?"

Eric briefly exchanged glances with his teammates. There wasn't any other choice that they had. Going along with the tour was their only choice they had of escape.

"Yes," Eric finally answered.

"Swell," Blackwater replied in a smug tone.

The Xenomorph then turned her giant body around and began walking on her hind legs through the threshold. After a few steps into the next hallway, she turned her head to look at the team and hissed, likely implying them to follow. Eric nodded to his team, assuring them that they were going to be okay and proceeded to follow the xenomorph into the hallway. The rest of the team hesitantly began to follow him closely.

The hallway was long and somewhat dark, only being lit by the flashlights of the Spartans, and the glowing lights of the two elites, and the Xenomorph in front of them.

"What are you going to show us?" Eric questioned Blackwater, still wary of the Xenomorph.

"Our mission, Omega Bame," Blackwater answered flatly.

"And what exactly would that be?" Tyler asked.

"You will see, Spartan Eilen. Patience," was all he answered with.

As the team distantly followed the Sangheili Xenomorph, they noticed that they were approaching a large glass window which revealed a large laboratory. The Xenomorph then stopped and turned around to glance at the team making a low hissing sound that almost sounded like a growl, like it was trying to communicate. Each member of the team came to a halt and turned towards the window.

It took several moments for each of them to register as to what they were looking at with their two eyes. As they came to realize what was before them, they, even the elites, were utterly horrified by what they saw. In the laboratory were several stations of six cots that had Yautja bodies strapped onto them. Behind the stations were several glass pods filled with bubbling liquid. Inside of each of them was another Yautja body, however they seemed alive in a certain state of preservation. Back at the stations, the motionless Yautja bodies were hooked up to several medical pumps linked to a few IV poles. Those IV poles were then linked up to a large glass tank that had a strange neon green fluid.

Eric knew right away what the fluid was.

"Is that what I think it is," Eric said in pure disgust.

"Indeed it is, Bame. It is Yautja blood," Blackwater replied.

Each member of the team had a deep expression of disgust and horror. They immediately began to mutter words amongst each other.

"What the actual fuck," Tyler grimaced in disbelief.

"This is insane," Porsche said as he looked away from the bodies.

Both Rane and Sotan were muttering words to each other in strange tongue. It was clear to the Spartans that they were disgusted.

"That's fucked up," Angel cursed.

"Got that right," Spade agreed.

Eric shook his head in disgust. "Why are you extracting predator blood?"

"The Yautja are remarkable creatures, and that is primarily a result of their blood. Their blood has several fascinating traits. One of which that allow them to live over one thousand years. Another that it grants them great strength. Their strength would allow them to combat a Sangheili or a Jiralhanae at ease. Despite all of their great physical attributes, Yautja are all things _but_ smart. They have remained in their clan-like society and tend to primarily focus on hunting trips rather than imperializing the galaxy," Blackwater simply informed.

"So what does that have to do with you taking their blood?" Spade asked curiously, but still disgusted.

"I will show you all soon enough. Shall we continue?" Blackwater replied.

The Xenomorph then turned around and continued strolling down the hallway. Eric's took one last curious glance into the room only to be disgusted even more. As he stared at one of the lifeless predators on one of the cots, a memory popped into his head without warning. He suddenly found himself wondering about the fate of the one predator he and his former team fought alongside with during Operation Wildfire. The last thing Eric remembered of him was when he zealously charged into the forest after the Insurrectionists. It was very quick and random, but he never saw that predator again.

Tyler stepped up next his commander and gently leaned into his view, breaking his reminiscence. "Everything alright, sir?" He concernedly asked.

Eric shifted his grip on his SAW and nodded back. "Yeah, I'm fine," he quickly said as he turned to follow the Xenomorph.

Tyler exchanged a concerning look with both Porsche and Spade, who both lightly shrugged at Bame's strange behavior. The rest of the team returned to following the disturbed Spartan Commander. Tyler found himself wondering what was going through his commander's mind. What did sit right with Tyler was that Eric was acting very calm in the current situation. However, calm may not be the best word describe him, at least to Tyler. He knew of the strange behaviors of Spartan II's and III's. Looks can be deceiving.

As the team cautiously followed the tamed Xenomorph to the next exhibit, they walked past another large room with several large cargo crates. Around them were a few strange dropships that were very similar to their own pelicans, but they seemed more futuristic for a lack of better term. Eric noticed a circular lift at the center of the cargo bay that seemed to lead to an entrance on the ceiling.

 _At least I know our way out when things get loud,_ Eric noted to himself.

Shortly after turning his head to the other side of the hallway, the sight before him completely took his breath away. The tamed bug stood next to the window patiently, awaiting for another command from her master.

"This is our incubating laboratory," Blackwater announced.

In the laboratory, the team saw several open cargo crates with Sangheili warriors, both Covenant and Swords of Sanghelios, trapped inside large capsules in cryostasis. In many stations within the laboratory, there were eight elites strapped down to tables placed near eight open Ovamorphs. As expected, the elites were lifeless, having a large gaping hole at the center of their chest with their violet-purplish blood dripping from the hole.

An enraged roar bellowed from Sotan at the sight of his fallen brothers. With his mandibles opened wide in rage, he drew his energy sword and faced the Xenomorph. The Xenomorph hissed in retaliation, revealing her inner jaw between her Sangheili mandibles. However, her stance had a more defensive stance look to it like she was simply warning the elite to stop.

Before Sotan could charge at the Xenomorph, Eric jumped in between the elite and the bug. "Sotan, stop," he desperately ordered the elite, applying pressure against the elite's chestplate with his left hand.

Clearly taken aback by the Spartan's plea, Sotan growled in anger. "These demons are using my brothers as livestock for their unholy abominations! I will not tolerate this heathen's work!"

Despite showing an obvious loathing expression towards the purpose of the laboratory, Rane reluctantly placed herself between her brother and the Xenomorph. Tyler took note of how Rane extended her mandibles, realizing that he has not seen her extend them since he's met her. The reaction on her face could give any male Sangheili nightmares, much less a Spartan. Despite the disgusting purpose of the laboratory, Tyler could not help but smile once again at the similarities of human and Sangheili women. Needless to say, he was glad that he was wearing his Spartan helmet.

"I can completely understand your concern, master elite," Blackwater commented in an ominous tone. "However, your species is not the only one we… harvest for our research."

Angel shook his head in disbelief. "This is a whole other level of _fucked up_ ," he muttered in disgust.

Sotan continued on growling at the bug, but thankfully took a step back away from the Spartan Commander. Rane muttered something to him in their native language which ultimately caused him to deactivate his energy sword.

Eric and the rest of the Spartans directed their attention back into the gruesome laboratory. "So you're using these Sangheili as hosts for your Xenomorphs," Eric said flatly, studying the features of the laboratory.

"Correct, Omega Bame," Blackwater replied. "Like the Yautja, these creatures are fascinating pieces of work. As you know, they have acidic blood that is much more corrosive than most chemical compounds, yet its body could contain it inside without any trouble at all. In fact, they seem to thrive with it. Studying these serpents provided us many breakthroughs in our understanding in biology and genetics. In addition, they manage to communicate by releasing extremely potent pheromones that they can detect even through the vacuum of space. In all intensive purposes, these Xenomorphs depict the definition of a _perfect organism_. And like the Flood, they are governed by one specific intelligent mind."

"The Queen," Eric answered.

"You are correct again. To my knowledge, you have faced one before, Bame. You and your team," Blackwater commented almost like he was impressed. "However, one queen can only govern a certain amount of Xenomorphs. When a hive grows to an enormous size, a queen will evolve to what we call an Empress. There could only be one Empress at a time, but she dictates what each of the other queens do."

"So, what are you doing with them? Turning them into your personal guard dogs?" Tyler sarcastically questioned.

"Well, for a lack of a better way of describing it, yes we are. However, that is not their only purpose," Blackwater answered.

"What else are they used for, then?" Tyler questioned.

"As I said before, studying these creatures allowed for us to discover many breakthroughs in our knowledge in biology and genetics. The study of how their bodies are made up will assist us reach our ultimate goal. Before you ask again, please follow my Xenomorph to the last exhibit on this little tour."

The team followed the Xenomorph into a room where they noticed many other experiment stations, only they looked very familiar to the Spartans. They were similar, nearly identical, to the machines that physically augmented their bodies that made them become a Spartan, only they had several other additions to them. One of which was a capsule of Yautja blood hooked up into the machine.

"What you all see now is our ultimate goal. These machines are an highly enhanced version of the physical augmentation process that made you all Spartans. Although, we do not use a mystery serum to create super soldiers," Blackwater stated. "You all asked what our mission was, yes?"

"Yes," Eric replied.

"Our ultimate goal is to hold the Mantle of Responsibility," Blackwater announced. The statement caused everyone to exchange extremely confused expressions. "It is an impossible task for humanity to achieve on its own."

"Why do you say that as if you're not counting yourself as a human?" Eric questioned.

"Because, Omega Bame, I have ascended to something greater than humanity." He paused for a moment. "Greater than the Sangheili, greater than the San 'Shyuum. Even greater than the Forerunners themselves." At the last part of his sentence, the serpent in front of the group let out a loud roar-like bellowing sound that echoed the halls, followed by a calming clicking sound that came from the back of her throat. "Essentially, we would be the gods of the galaxy."

Eric was fairly confused by this strange statement. It was remarkably similar to what the Prophets of the Covenant once said several years ago.

"This sounds insane," Eric finally said.

"H-Hang on...this still doesn't make any sense," Tyler brought up. "You still haven't told us how the hell you're able to use the predator's blood."

"What is it that you do not understand, Spartan Eilen?" Blackwater asked in a smug tone. Eric could hear the low growl from Rane as Blackwater mentioned Tyler's last name.

"If I remember correctly not all blood is the same, there are different types, and if they are incorrectly mixed it can kill the host. Let alone dealing with alien blood or some type of acidic shit. You have to get the right type of blood to be able to use it in your own body, and since these guys are from other worlds, their blood is completely different from ours, meaning you would need some sort of DNA converter to shift around bonds in each individual blood cell," Tyler said out of speculation.

"Well then. I certainly am glad to see that you Spartans are not all brawn and muscle. Someone has been doing their homework!" Blackwater praised the young spartan before returning to his usual sarcastic but serious tone. "You see, that's where our breakthrough of genetics comes in. Our new found knowledge of the structure of the Xenomorphs and the Yautja have allowed us to genetically mutate the human body with staggering results."

"You're…" Tyler began saying in shock, "genetically modifying humans using Xenomorph and Predator blood?"

The rest of the team were all shocked beyond belief at the gruesome revelation.

"There's much more to it than just that," Blackwater replied. After a moment of silence, his tone turned to a much sinister taste. "Humanity is weak. If not for the Great Schism of the Covenant, Humanity would certainly have faced extinction, much less with a simple Flood outbreak."

Eric shook his head in disbelief. "How could you just betray your own species?"

"You are mistaking yourself, Omega Bame. I am not _betraying_ my species. I am _creating_ my own species. Humanity was never worthy enough to hold the Mantle and so they will be left behind," Blackwater confidently informed. "So this is where I offer you all a choice."

"And what is that?" Eric questioned even though he pretty much knew the answer.

"My offer is simple. My leader tasked me to persuade you and your division to join us in our quest to claim the Mantle of Responsibility. Will you join us?" Blackwater asked.

Before the question registered in Eric's head, one particular word he used caught his full attention. "Your _leader_?"

"Ah yes. My _leader_ ," Blackwater said. "He is known by many aliases, but he prefers to be called Hades."

Angel took a quick glance at Spade and Porsche and huffed out a laugh. "Irony at its finest," he whispered sarcastically.

"Hades?" Eric said in bewilderment. "Like the god of Hell?"

"Correct. However, he is more of a visionary than a devil. One that wishes to unite the whole galaxy as one," Blackwell stated.

Porsche let out a low gruff. "He has a comical way of showing it," he remarked.

Eric quickly glanced around at his team, quickly going over the facts he knows about the Meta Division. Shaking his head, he realized that there was something that just did not add up. He turned back to the Xenomorph. "The Meta Division is not a branch of the Insurrectionist. You can't be. I can see that by looking at all the advanced equipment you have at this facility."

"The Insurrectionists? You thought I was with them?" Blackwater questioned in amusement. He then let out a sinister and ominous laugh. "Those _dogs_ were merely the first step on our path towards the Mantle. Those leaders were petty and greedy. Convincing those militiamen to join our cause was trivial."

"Then what do you call yourselves?" Eric questioned.

"I am surprised you did not know beforehand. But it matters not. We are known as the Interstellar Unified Empire," Blackwater informed in a grandiose tone.

"With _Hades_ being this _Emperor_?" Eric questioned out of curiosity.

"Yes. Now let us cut to the chase. Will you accept our offer in joining us in claiming the Mantle of Responsibility?" Blackwater asked patiently.

Eric took a moment to exchange looks with his teammates. Judging by the way they were looking back at their Commander, it was crystal clear to what their choices would be if they were asked. For a long moment, Eric was very pleased to witness his Spartans' strong sense of morality. Blackwater and his "Empire" was bent on vampirism in order to _create_ their own new species. They were betraying humanity along with exploiting both the Xenomorphs and the Yautja in order to create a more perfect organism. Morality was nonexistent in their society.

It was a clear decision.

Eric turned around to face the Xenomorph and gripped his SAW tightly.

"No. We decline your insane offer," he said sternly.

After a moment of silence, Blackwater began to speak. "Then you are no longer any use to us. You will be left behind like the rest."

Suddenly, the alarms began going off, flashing red lights inside of the complex. In merely seconds, several more Sangheili Xenomorphs appeared around them, circling their position. The team quickly readied their weapons and formed up into a defensive stance. Sotan activated his energy sword and roared out in anger. Tyler followed suit and drew the energy sword Iono 'Vandam gifted to him before the operation. The rest of the team flipped the safeties off and took aim at the circling bugs.

"Kill them," Blackwater ordered.

The Xenomorphs shrieked loudly, extending their boney mandibles. Then one by one, they pounced toward the allied Spartans and Elites with their claws aimed for their throats.


	10. Escape!

Slashes and scratches screeched throughout the complex as metal and chitin flaked off from every species. Rumbling gunfire pierced through the sounds of shredding chitin and the ground hissed from the highly corrosive blood. Shrieks and roars bellowed from the serpents who were making a strong attempt to dismember their Spartan and Sangheili foes. The alarm sound pulsating through the facility was muffled, simply by the ferocity of the skirmish.

Gripping his energy sword's hilt tightly, Tyler gracefully swiped at an incoming tail whip from one of the serpents, severing half of its tail off. Before he could counter, another xeno charged at him, claws extended straight for his neck. Instinctively, he evaded to the side and swiped vertically, severing the serpent's claws off completely. Without wasting a second, Tyler bashed his upper right leg against the xeno's lower abdomen and pushed it aside. In quick succession, he charged sword first after the tailless Xenomorph who was screeching out in pain. The serpent was suddenly silenced after its long protruding head smacked flat to the ground.

In the midst of the skirmish, Tyler managed to catch a glance of Porsche, who was dodging several repeated swipes from two other Xenomorphs. Porsche had seemed to be handling his own for some time, but his defense was beginning to falter, due to the trouble he was experiencing from the two Xenomorphs, with only his magnum and energy wakizashi to keep them at bay. After considering the situation at hand, Tyler drew his SMG and waved it at Porsche, gaining his attention. Instinctively, Porsche nodded back, and, with vehement force, instantly kicked one of the Xenomorphs back several feet, slamming it into the metal wall. A loud crack reverberated through the hall, as the serpent recoiled from the impact. Acid began to seep from around its abdominal region. Porsche assumed that the combination of the force from his attack, as well as the contact with the metal panelling, had caused multiple organs inside of the creature to rupture. Waiting for the opportune moment, Tyler tossed his SMG through the air towards his comrade. In a flurry of movements that all seemed like one motion, Porsche managed to sheath his blade, snatch the SMG from the air, and begin to unload into the serpent nearest to his position, while simultaneously landing numerous critical shots on his other opponent with his magnum. In mere seconds, both xenos laid deceased at Porsche's feet, but more continued to flow into the confined space. Without hesitation, Porsche reengaged his new combatants with honorable fury.

Within the pandemonium, Spade was fighting hand-to-hand with one of the Xenomorphs. With his flamethrower swatted out of his reach and his pulse rifle not currently cocked and ready despite still being attached to his back, he was left with his melee combat skills and his combat knife. His armor shielding integrity was quickly diminishing due to being one step behind most attacks from the serpent. To much of his surprise, the serpent attempted a heavy swipe horizontally, but he managed to dodge it. Finally given the opportunity to counter, he crashed his elbow aside the serpent's head and jammed his blade into the upper part of its head, then twisted. The serpent dropped to the floor with a thud.

Before Spade could retrieve his combat knife, he was tackled to the ground by yet another serpent. The serpent shrieked in anger, showing its inner jaw to the Spartan and tightly grappled him by the collar. To its surprise, it shrieked as a deep bluish blade was plunged through its chest. As it was tossed aside, Spade noticed that Angel was the one to save his life. As Spade quickly got to his feet, Angel tossed him his shotgun.

"Eight shots," was all he said.

Spade nodded as he pumped a shell into the chamber. He then proceeded to carefully fire shells at any incoming Xenomorphs.

Gripping his hilt tightly, Angel instantly went to assist Eric, who was firing waves of rounds from his SAW at anymore incoming bugs. As Eric braced himself after noticing a serpent pouncing at him from his left, Angel tackled the serpent mid flight to the ground and lodged the tip of his sword into its chest. Eric nodded a quick thank you to his comrade and continued to mow down more serpents.

Realizing that her plasma rifle was out of charge, Rane threw her rifle to the floor, and drew her personal energy sword. Alongside her elite commander Sotan, she fought against the serpents with zeal, severing off limbs and heads. Unexpectedly, she was tackled to the ground by another serpent from her blind side. The serpent was making every attempt to bite around her neck while snapping its tail around in the air, hoping to also impale her through the torso.

After Tyler sliced yet another serpent in half, he spotted Rane pinned to the ground by the Xenomorph. With his sense of protection kicking in, he whirlwind his body around launched his energy sword at that Xenomorph which lodged itself into the serpent's rib cage. Without given a chance to check on his teammate, he caught another Xenomorph in the process of tackling him to the ground and swiftly used its momentum to choke slam it to the ground. He then raised his fist to the air, and slammed against the serpent's throat with extreme force. The impact snapped through its chitin which caused acid to spray from the wound. While Tyler continued to brawl with the seemingly endless swarm of bugs, his shield integrity was rapidly diminishing due to the corrosive blood.

As Rane pushed the serpent's lifeless corpse off of her, she took a brief moment to glance over to Tyler. Noticing that his shields were low and spotting yet another serpent charging after him, while simultaneously catching another serpent attempting to pounce on her, she somersaulted in the directing of the serpent attacking her, keeping her sword raised over head. In a swift motion, her blade severed the pouncing Xenomorph's body, starting from the left side of the collarbone, in half. In a rapid succession, she twisted her body around and released her energy sword towards the screeching Xenomorph beneath Tyler, then immediately proceeded to pull his energy sword from the dead serpent that previously attacked her.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of Rane's energy sword skewering the now dead serpent, Tyler quickly pulled the blade out of the carcass and turned his body around, readying for any more attacking serpents. The rest of the team were all finishing up their foes then went to glancing around at one another. The attack was finally over, but they weren't out of the woods yet. The alarm system was still sounded and proceeded to light up the room with a pulsing red light.

"Impressive," was all Blackwater could say after witnessing the team's flawless combat skills and teamwork. "I'll be looking forward to our next meeting, Omega."

Eric disregarded Blackwater's comment and turned to his teammates. "Alright, time to go. It's safe to say that this isn't the best place to stay."

"Agreed," Tyler quickly replied back.

Porsche threw Tyler's SMG back to him, nodded a thank you, and drew his DMR. Spade holstered his pulse rifle on his back and retrieved his flamethrower. The rest of the team returned the weapons to their former owners and readied up.

"Good?" Eric asked, receiving a nod from everyone in the team. "Alright let's go."

The team began running down the same hallway where they witnessed all the strange laboratories. As they came up to the incubation center, they quickly spotted several more serpents patrolling around the dead Sangheili. Immediately, they ducked under the window out of view before the bugs spotted them.

Eric glanced back at his team and shook his head. "We have no time for this," he whispered in frustration. He then focused his attention on Spade. "I'm going to break the window. Light them up as quickly as possible," he ordered pointing at Spade's flamethrower.

Spade nodded his head. "Got it, Commander," he replied as he powered up his flamethrower.

Eric swiftly got to his feet with his SAW aiming at the window and squeezed the trigger, sending waves of bullets through the shattered glass. On cue, Spade aimed his flamethrower into the room and immediately set the laboratory in blazes, causing the serpents to scream out in agony as the fire burned their chitin. Both Sotan and Rane then pulled out a few plasma grenades and proceeded to throw them into the room. The laboratory was then blasted with several bluish colored explosions among the fire from Spade's flamethrower. Needless to say, there was nothing left living in the incubation center.

With the entire laboratory in flames, Sotan seemed to be in a deeply sorrowed trance. He watched as both red and blue flames burned his fallen brothers. Closing his eyes very softly then bowing his head, he whispered something in his language and brought his right hand to his heart. Rane flowed suit, bringing her hand over her heart in respect for her fallen brothers. A strong sensation of sympathy washed over the Spartans as they witnessed the sad display of respect that the Sangheili had for one another, even if they were fighting against each other.

"Alright," Eric said, snapping everyone out of their trance. "We need to get out of here."

Suddenly behind the team, several Xenomorphs were beginning to close in on them. Hissing, gnawing on their own teeth, tails whipping back and forth, even hitting each other as the bugs were practically climbing on top of one other to get to the spartans and the two Elites.

"We're running low on ammo!" Tyler shouted.

"And I'm pretty much running on fumes here..." Spade followed up, making Eric quickly think what their next move was going to be.

Far down the hallway, a large blast door was shutting on their only known way out of the facility. Suddenly, more Xenomorphs were crashing through the windows along the hallway and immediately began to charge after the team. Sotan let out a war cry as he drew his modified plasma repeater then started to send volleys of red plasma bolts at the incoming horde of serpents.

Realizing they were cut off from the original exit and no way of contacting the outside, Eric scurried through his mind for any possible way out. The vents were far too small and there was no way of knowing where they would lead to. They were too deep underground to attempt to blow themselves out, provided that they somehow find the explosives and that they _survive_ the blast. As the team slowly moved along the hallway, Eric noticed that they were next to the window that oversaw the cargo bay. Suddenly, it snapped to him. The lift.

"Into the cargo bay, now!" Eric cried out to the team. While Spade and Sotan covered both flanks, the rest of the team jumped through the window that dropped a few feet onto a large cargo crate.

As Eric hopped onto the crate, he looked back up into the window. "Sotan, Spade, get out now!"

Spade's flamethrower suddenly ran out of fuel and he threw it to the ground. He turned around, tapped Sotan on the shoulder and dove through the window onto the crate. Sotan snarled as he melted Xenomorph chitin with his plasma repeater. After realizing a Xenomorph behind pouncing at with its claws out, Sotan drew his sword and cut the serpent half starting from the collar bone. It's acid sprayed onto his armor, compromising his shield's integrity and quickly began to erode through the alien metal armor. As he continued to swipe and slash his energy sword at the incoming waves of serpents, the acid finally met with his dark reptilian skin, firing several pain synapses in his brain causing him to roar out in pain.

"Sotan! Fall back, now!" Eric cried out for the elite.

Sotan growled in anger and caught another serpent by the neck then drilled his energy sword through its chest. For the brief moment that was given to him, he quickly glanced out of the window at the team. "Get out, Spartans! I shall remain here and purge as many of these beasts until the end!"

"No, I have you covered! Jump out!" Eric order.

Sotan paused, mulling over the Spartan's desperate plea.

"You forget yourself, commander." He said solemnly. "I am not one of your own. My resting place is here, with my brethren. My kin. Now go Spartans!" Sotan roared back as he swiped his sword at another serpent.

For a brief moment, he allowed himself to gaze at Rane who was standing near Tyler with her sword activated. Pointing at her, he muttered something in Sangheili, then shifted his finger at the lift. He then tossed her his custom plasma repeater and told her to go. Rane hesitantly bowed to her leader and turned around to face the lift.

"We must go, Spartans," Rane whispered, clearly shaken by what her leader said to her.

Eric and the rest of the Spartans were clearly upset by the elite's decision, but there was nothing they could do. Suddenly, more serpents were appearing around the cargo bay. There was no more time. They had to move. The team quickly turned to follow Rane towards the lift. As they ran, they met little resistance from the attacking Xenomorphs, dispatching close targets at ease. When they stepped onto the lift's platform, they formed into a defensive position. The attacking swarm was very light compared to when they were initially attacked, so they double-teamed any charging Xenomorph. Eric quickly went to the terminal and searched for a key to activate the lift.

Both Tyler and Rane had a few moments to glance at Sotan vigorously taking on what seemed to be a dark cloud of shiny chitin and shrieks closing on his position. The sight before them was like a cloud of darkness attempting to suck out all of the light from this small, luminous lightning rod which, in this case, was Sotan's energy sword. The light from the blade in the distance waved and swept gracefully through the darkness attempting to overtake it.

"Holy shit," Tyler gasped.

Finally, Eric found the activation key on the control pad and tapped it. With a jolt and a grinding of gears, the platform began to slowly lift through the cargo bay. The ceiling slowly began to open up, revealing the night sky.

As soon as the platform was activated, all of the Xenomorphs quickly directed their attention to it and began to scurry after it. Sotan, with most of his armor melted away and his skin burning from the reaction of the Xenomorph acid, roared at the top of lungs. His energy sword was nearly out of charge. He continued to engage the serpents in hand-to-hand combat, but his blunt attacks were proving to be ineffective. Suddenly, one serpent's tail speared right through his back and out of his chest. Sotan dropped his energy sword and coughed up purplish blood. Suddenly, he started to laugh. Pulling out two plasma grenades, he activated them and stuck them on two of the serpents surrounding him. A blue explosion engulfed around the window area sending several parts and bits of Xenomorph around the cargo bay.

With the team out of reach from the serpents, they lowered their weapons. Rane remained silent as she stared at the sight of the explosion. Eric proceeded to call for extraction since communications were back up. Noticing the pain in Rane's posture, Tyler walked up next to her and looked up at her face. Her eyelids were slowly closing and her mandibles were clenching tight together.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Rane," Tyler sympathetically whispered to her.

Rane merely shook her head. "There is nothing else we can do except honor his sacrifice."

Tyler nodded in agreement, but found himself at a loss of words. There wasn't anything he could say that would ease her pain. Needless to say, she was very close to her commanding officer. The other Spartans were exchanging sorrowful glances to one another at the sight of the depressed elite.

Breaking the moment, a phantom flew over their position and dropped down a green aura. One by one, the team entered the phantom's gravity field, pulling them into the belly of the dropship. As Eric's feet landed inside the ship, he was greeted by Ivan. Behind him were the remaining Spartans and elites that were tasked to stand watch at the facility's entrance. The remaining Spartan members of the team walked up to them and began to discuss about what they just went through.

"Glad to see that you're alright, Commander," Ivan said.

Eric nodded his head and briefly placed a hand on Ivan's shoulder then proceeded to walk towards the cockpit. In there, he met with N'tho 'Sraom. "Commander, can you patch me into Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadam, please?" He asked the pilot as politely as possible.

"Yes, Spartan," the elite replied as he pressed a few strange buttons.

After a few moments of silence, the channel opened up with the Fleetmaster's transponder indicating on the phantom's holographic panel. "Fleetmaster, this Commander Bame. Do you read?"

Not a moment later, Rtas replied back through the channel. "I read you, Commander. What is it that you request?"

"We came across a Xenomorph infestation on this island. Requesting a containment protocol," Eric said as sternly as possible, hoping that whatever this _containment protocol_ was would include the possible destruction of the entire island.

"You what?" Rtas asked in shock. "There's a Xenomorph infestation on that island?"

"Affirmative, Fleetmaster. We need to contain this infestation as soon as possible before it spreads throughout the planet," Eric grimly informed.

"Say no more, Commander. I'll take care of this myself," Rtas quickly replied back. "Did you extract everyone off of the island?" He asked Eric.

Eric looked to N'tho for the answer. N'tho replied back through the network. "No Fleetmaster, but I'll send a phantom to pick up the remaining team."

"Good. Get your phantoms to a safe distance. I'm bringing the _Shadow of Intent_ to your position," Rtas informed.

Eric lowered his eyebrows in bewilderment. "What is it you're planning to do, Fleetmaster?"

"If what you said about the Xenomorphs is true, that they spread like the Flood, then there's only one thing that could be done to end the spread of the infestation," Rtas answered in a grim tone.

After several minutes passed by, the remaining members of the operation on the island were extracted by one of the other phantoms. From there, all the phantoms quickly started flying away from the island. From a few miles away, the bay doors of each of the phantoms lowered to show the island to the team. Very gradually, dawn began to arrive, lighting up the sea with a beautiful glaze of orangish light.

It was not long before the Shadow of Intent came into view, its massive size quite literally shadowed the island of the new rising sun. "Fleetmaster? This is Shipmaster 'Trok, requesting permission to fire over the target area."

"Go ahead Shipmaster, glass that island to Oblivion," Rtas sternly ordered. Right on cue, a high pitched charging sequence was initiated followed by a white light that shined towards the island. The harsh intensity from the light blinded the team of Spartans for only a moment before a massive purplish-red flash of superheated plasma beamed onto the island. The impact of the blast caused the forest and the terrain to immediately turn into a hot plain of molten glass.

The continuous glassing on the island was completely deafening to the point where it was comparable to listening to the white noise of pure silence. However, thanks to the Spartan augmentations, the Eric was able to hear the members of team gasp in awe at the incredible sight before them. He then heard a Spartan approach him. It was Tyler, who was now taking off his helmet in front of the team and setting it between his arm. He faced the island and saluted, only standing quietly for a moment, before Eric heard him speak.

"This is," he said in awe. Tyler found himself at a loss of words. He turned his head to observe Eric's expression. His commander was oddly unfazed by the amount of total destruction that was happening right before them. "This is fucking crazy...they literally just turned that island into a pile of fuckin' ashes," Tyler mumbled slightly. He then looked to Eric. "But you, why don't you look as surprised like the rest of us? Normally this isn't how people act when shit like this happens."

Eric merely turned his head towards the Fireteam Leader. "This isn't the first time I've seen it this close," he grimly replied.

"Wait what?" Tyler replied after registering his commander's comment.

As the superheated beams continued to literally turn the ground into glass, Eric bowed his head in a deep sense of sadness. "Reach," was what Eric merely whispered. Looking over to Tyler, he let out a somber exhale. "I was there in New Alexandria when the glassing started," he regretfully informed.

Tyler was at a loss of words. He heard about the catastrophic desolation of New Alexandria, but experiencing it was something completely out of his comprehension.

"I was lucky," Eric continued on. "I was evacuated shortly after it started. But the rest were," he paused and looked to the ground in guilt. "They weren't. I watched helplessly as many carriers and cruisers turned the once great city into a pile of molten glass with everyone beneath it."

"I can't imagine," Tyler said in awe.

"Don't," Eric quickly said back.

The rest of the Spartans were thoroughly observing the beams as it continued to desecrate the island. Porsche watched the beams with his arms crossed. The very sight of the incredible display of firepower brought him to a sense of pure admiration for the Sangheili. And fear out of respect. On his right stood Rane, who had her hand placed over her chest and her head bowed down.

There was no doubt in Porsche's head that her posture was out of remembrance for her fallen leader. In a sense, the glassing reminded Porsche of a Viking funeral. Honor by fire and fury, and he deeply respected that. He found a strong sense of admiration for the Sangheili's deep passion for honor, and that honor easily integrated into their sense of morality. They are a strong willed species that should never be overlooked by any means. More importantly, their vibrant passion for companionship and loyalty to one another was also something not to be underestimated. Even if they are at war with one another. Porsche noticed that Sotan's rageful reaction to finding his fallen kin in the incubation center was not only the result of seeing Elites from the SoS dead, but it was also that some were Elites that were a part of the Covenant. If only the UNSC held the same passion of these standards, where would the human race be as a species?

"Alright, let's get out of here," Eric finally said. Porsche gave one long last look to the spectacle, then turned and headed into the phantom, making his way to the control room to assist in navigation. As the doors closed, the team could no longer maintain a visual of the glassing anymore, so the next best thing was to get comfortable and head back to base. Tyler looked to his commander, nodded his head out of respect, then moved to the back with Rane to try and comfort her through her loss. Eric took a look at the rest of his spartans and let out a long exhausted sigh. This was going to be a long trip back. And there was so much that Eric had to say to his superiors.

 **Date: January 26th, 2559**

 **Location: Unknown**

The elevator doors opened horizontally revealing a tall man in a suit with his hands folded behind his back. Proceeding into the bright room, he nonchalantly gazed around his surroundings until his focus was directed to the two individuals he was there to meet with. One of them was standing in a posture like his, observing the view through the large paned windows. The other stood with his arms crossed and his gaze watching the man as he approached them in a calm and elegant pace.

"Blackwater," the man with his arms crossed greeted in his British accent. "It's about time you decided to show up."

Blackwater approached the two men with a faint smirk. "Silver, you know well that I like to keep myself busy with important matters," Blackwater replied in a condescending tone.

The man, dubbed Silver, rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Yes, of course," he sarcastically replied. "You and your science projects."

Blackwater gave Silver a sly smirk. "Oh Silver. You know the importance of said _science projects_ ," he condescendingly replied.

Breaking the small talk between the two, the other man announced himself, still gazing out of the window. "Good to see you again, Blackwater. What news of _Omega Bame_ do you have for me?"

Blackwater let out an amused huff and slightly shook his head at the incident with the Omega Division. "Just as I predicted, unfortunately he will not be joining our cause," Blackwater answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

His answer caused the man to shake his head in disappointment. "How can this be?" He questioned Blackwater as calmly as possible, finding it difficult to cage his anger.

Blackwater took a moment to gather his thoughts, attempting to explain himself without potentially setting his leader off into a rage. He was not in the mood for another argument with his short tempered leader. "He still believes in humanity as they are. Based on the reactions he was giving me, there was little to no chance of persuading him."

The man slowly turned his attention towards Blackwater, revealing his African rooted facial features that had a prominent displeased expression. "I gave you all the tools you needed to convince him and the rest of the Omega Division and yet you come back to me saying that he declined our offer," the man sneered.

"Hades, you must have known that he was going to refuse the offer. Bame is not a man of ambition due to the Spartan III program. He is a soldier of honor and duty," Blackwater reminded. "Besides, I still don't understand why this aging Spartan is so important to you. There are many others more important than Bame that would join our cause without hesitation."

"Bame is the thing blocking us from achieving our goal, and I have my own personal reasons as to why I wish to have him aiding our cause," Hades replied, suppressing his urge to lose his temper.

Silver shook his head at the comment, believing that the Omega Division was the least of their worries. "Blue Team would be more of a problem to us in my opinion," he commented flatly.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Director," Hades sneered. Silver raised his hands in submission but kept his doubtful expression across his face.

Blackwater took a couple steps towards Hades, thorough observing his body language. "Is your _personal_ reason related to the fact that you were once a part of the Spartan program?" Blackwater questioned his leader.

Hades glared at Blackwater after hearing Spartan program. "Absolutely not!" He yelled. "That is irrelevant," he assured them. The thought of his tour in the Spartan Program caused his blood to boil.

"I'm sure it is," Silver sarcastically commented to himself.

Hades clenched his teeth together, ignoring Silver's comment, then turned back around to look out the window. After a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and exhaled. "Blackwater, you do not understand how important his cooperation is to the Empire," he said as he slowly closed his eyes in disappointment.

"It would seem so, Emperor," Blackwater flatly replied.

"What did you do when he refused?" Hades questioned.

Blackwater gave Silver a quick glance and looked back to his leader. "Allowed him to leave," he replied, smiling at the misinformation he provided to his leader. Needless to say, Blackwater had a sheer loathing of the Spartan Program and would want nothing more than to best the physically augmented soldiers with his genetic creation.

"Good," Hades replied. "I'll persuade him to join our cause, myself, in due time."


	11. Replacements

**Date: March 1st, 2559**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

A month has passed by since the operation on Sanghelios. The unveiling of the Interstellar Unified Empire caused quite a lot of commotion within the Office of Naval Intelligence and in FLEETCOM. The entire UNSC's focus was now on this barbaric rogue human faction. However, there was no intel on the Empire besides what the Omega Division gathered on LV-426 and on Sanghelios. In regard to the lack of intelligence, the entire UNSC issued a galaxy scale search for possible Empire activity. In response to the issue, Rear Admiral Lasky tasked Commander Bame to gather reconnaissance and intelligence on Doisac by any means necessary. However, Omega was not prepared for another operation just yet.

While the mission on the Empire's base on the island was a success so to speak, the joint forces offensive operation against the Covenant Remnant was successful, but with a heavy cost. Several human and Sangheili lives were lost in the effort to quell the remaining forces of the Covenant. Behind that were a few severe casualties among the Spartans.

Fireteam Creedance was decommissioned due to the casualties of each member. Matthew McBride was finally discharged from service due to the severity of his concussion he received on LV-426. Tristan Sparks, on the other hand, was aiding Fireteam Cerulean in a firefight against an elite strike team and large amount of standard Covenant infantry. They were pinned down trying to cover Fireteam Ghost move forward in dispatching one of the elite generals. During the firefight, Sparks suffered from a plasma grenade blast. The blast blew off his right leg. His other wounds were also severe, almost fatal. It wasn't long until a pelican extracted him from the battlefield. With the loss of his leg, he was discharged from duty shortly after the Battle of Sunaion.

On a more grim note, Ujwal Babburi was confirmed KIA. He had managed to skyjack a Banshee going for a bombing run on his position, and provided covering fire from the sky as his allies evacuated. Bishop reported that Ujwal was eventually overrun and shot down by a squadron of ultra-banshees. His remains were not found.

With nobody left in Creedance, Eric decided to decommission the Fireteam.

In addition, there were a few other Spartan casualties. David Wolf suffered a severe concussion and several broken bones after attempting to save a few marines from a deadly blow from a hunter. The impact from the hunter's shield would surely have killed the marines. However, his injuries ultimately ended his career as 1st platoon officer. Furthermore, Cristian Thresh was also discharged due to severe injuries during the same firefight Sparks was in, losing a sword fight against a zealot. His discharge left Fireteam Cerulean without a Fireteam Leader.

Out of all the reports of casualties that Eric was notified of, there was one in particular that hit him hard. Vlodymyr Ocean lost his life from a Kig-Yar sniper. He was told by Bishop that it was very sudden and out of nowhere. His death was tragic to say the least, especially to Eric. A large part of him felt extreme guilt in the pit of his stomach due to the fact that Ocean was young. He was too young to die, but this was his choice. He wanted to be a Spartan, proved himself to become a Spartan, then die as a Spartan. Every candidate is well aware of the risks that come when holding this honorable position.

After the Battle of Sunaion, Eric was left with five casualties, two of them being fatalities. In total, he was down eight Spartans and a full Fireteam. That meant that he had to request eight new replacements along with three promotions from his existing roster that would fill the First Platoon officer position, the leader of Fireteam Cerulean, and a new leader of the Fireteam whose former leader would be taking the First Platoon position. This left Eric in a grind. He figured that it would be better if he would request Commander Palmer for one of the most skilled Spartan Fireteams to be transferred into Omega. That would make organization easier for Eric. That way, he wouldn't have to shake up his fireteam roster as much. From there, he would only need four new replacements.

However, that left him with his next dilemma. Who would he consider in his existing roster for the promotions? His only candidates for the First Platoon officer are Eilen, Porsche, Bishop, and Spartan Michael Black, the current leader of Fireteam Ghost. Right off the bat, Eric detested Black for the promotion. Black was too quiet and unknown to the rest of Omega. Black had a tendency to keep affairs between himself and his Fireteam, which was completely fine to Eric because it worked out well for them, but also could become a crippling weakness in certain situations. Bishop, on the other hand, was a debatable candidate. Although he was well known within the division, Eric feared that the higher position would put Bishop under too much stress. He was almost too admirable, which in the end would work best as a Fireteam leader. What Eric needed was a stern and authoritative Spartan that could get things done like Dave did, but different at the same time. David was good at his job, but he lacked personality and motive. An individual that was more of a rounded character would better fit.

That left Bame with Eilen and Porsche as the last two candidates. While the decision was strenuous to make, he found himself leaning towards Porsche. He liked Eilen as both a soldier and a friend. The leader of Aries almost reminded Eric of Danny, but younger and shorter. However, it was not right to promote Eilen because of Eric's fondness towards the young Spartan. Eilen was loyal, trustworthy, and never backed away from a tough situation. Yet he lacked experience in the field, and the only way to receive that training was to live it. On the other hand, Eric was inclined for Porsche because he also reminded him of his old teammate, Jon, but a little more serious. Porsche was down to earth, strong-willed, and strived for perfection, and above all put everyone before himself. He led by example, and encouraged those around him to do the same. Putting the notion of likeability behind him, Eric wondered what the practical decision would be. Diving in deeper on the matter, he thought about the members in both Jaeger and Aries. He immediately despised the idea of giving any of the remaining members of Aries leadership of their fireteam. Not that they were necessarily bad people, by any means, but none of them were prepared enough for such a critical role. On the flip side, there was one Spartan in Jaeger that he would undoubtedly promote. That Spartan was Matthew Spade. Spade proved his leadership skills on LV-426. He would make a great leader for Jaeger, at least that's what Eric believed.

Judging on the reasons he came up with, Eric decided that Porsche would best fill in the position for First Platoon. He could kill two birds with one stone by giving Spade the leadership of Jaeger. That left Eric with one more promotion to give which would be replacing Thresh's position in Cerulean. With the remaining Spartans he had left, there weren't many candidates left to consider. The remaining members of Cerulean were not very qualified to lead a Fireteam. On another note, he preferred to have Fireteam Aries and Ghost remain as they were which left him with not very many choices. The only choices he had were Carboni, Frost, Dukes, and Regendorf. Considering how Carboni and Frost were and how they fit well into Jaeger, Eric decided to have them remain with Spade.

That left him between Dukes and Regendorf, the heavy gunners. Regendorf was returning to the outpost soon after his duration at the H station. Apparently he wished to have a word with Eric when he returned, most likely about his surgery. Anyways, Eric figured that Regendorf wouldn't be the best choice either because of his wound. Dukes was the only Spartan left in consideration. He was a tough and fearless Spartan that definitely played well with others based on what Eric saw during the simulation training and what he heard during the mission on LV-426.

So that was what Eric was going to do. Benjamin Porsche will be taking command of First Platoon. Matthew Spade will be taking command of Fireteam Jaeger. Then Justin Dukes will be taking command of Fireteam Cerulean. They were the most practical choices for the division, at least in his mind. Which then lead to the question of where he will recruit more Spartans into the division. The division needed a total of eight replacement Spartans.

Deciding that now would be a good a time as any, Eric began to prepare himself in his formal military uniform. On his Spartan service dress blue blazer hung several medals and ribbons. The most notable awards were for his service during the fall of Reach, the Second Battle of Requiem, and Operation Wildfire. After getting himself fully dressed, clean shaven, and formally presentable, he made his way to his private office where he would have a meeting with Rear Admiral Lasky.

After scanning his appearance one last time, he stood in a formal stance and glanced at the holographic terminal next to his desk. "Magnus," he called for the AI.

Immediately popping up as a hologram, Magnus saluted the Spartan Commander in his virtual Nazi uniform. "Yes, Commander?"

"Patch me into Lasky," Eric ordered.

"Understood. Shouldn't take too long," the AI replied as he activated the video chat screen in front of Eric.

The signal called for Lasky's frequency, pulsating the wavelength on the screen for a few minutes. Eric took a deep breath and gently blinked, attempting to calm his anxious mood. Finally, Lasky's signal responded and a live video of Lasky in his dress blues came into view.

"Commander Bame, always a pleasure. Looking good in your dress blues," he complimented with a smile. Eric smiled lightly at the compliment and nodded a thank you. "What can I help you with?"

"Admiral," Eric started, but was cut off by Lasky.

"At ease, Bame. I'd prefer to keep this informal," Lasky politely pleaded. Eric nodded and eased his stance.

"Well, I guess I'll just cut to the chase," Eric said flatly. "Omega needs eight more Spartans. I need some replacements in a few of my Fireteams. Also," he paused, gently blinking his eyes in guilt. "I'm down a full Fireteam."

"I see," Lasky regretfully replied while looking away the camera. "I'm sorry for your loss, Eric." Eric remained quiet, finding himself at a loss of words. "Well, I'll contact Commander Palmer and see if she could transfer one of her most skilled Fireteams into your division."

Eric nodded. "That's what I was going to request, sir."

"I'm actually pretty familiar with one of her Fireteams. Have you heard of Fireteam Phoenix?" Lasky asked.

"Sounds familiar," Eric replied, slightly squinting his eyes in thought. "Weren't they stationed on the Infinity?"

"Yeah they were," Lasky answered. "Actually, they were one of the few Fireteams that were successfully extracted from Wildfire."

"Really," Eric said in surprise. "Then why weren't they recommended to my division?"

"To be completely honest Commander, I'm not sure why," Lasky replied as he shrugged. "Either way, I'll contact Commander Palmer about it. As for other four replacements, I already took the liberty in searching for some fresh meat," Lasky said as he picked up a file from his desk.

"Who did you find?" Eric asked.

"Well, they are all brand new in the Spartan program, but I made sure they weren't just run of the mill super soldiers," Lasky sarcastically said with a smirk across his face. "I checked each of their service records diligently and I'm pretty sure that they will fit in your division just fine."

"Sounds great, Lasky. What can you tell me about them?" Eric asked as he crossed his arms.

"Roland, mind if you upload the files on the screen?" Lasky asked his infamous AI.

"Way ahead of you, Cap- I mean, Admiral," the AI quickly corrected himself.

Suddenly, several pictures and files of these four recruits popped up onto the left side of the screen before Eric. On the top of the screen showed a recruit that went by the name Gavin Vincent. His picture showed a blond clean shaven young man that had distinct Nordic roots. The next picture depicted a hispanic looking Spartan named Christian Tundra. The third from the top showed an African rooted man named Eric Fiksoe. Lastly, the picture on the bottom was of a female that had distinct Irish looks and dirty blond hair that was named Savanna Bennett. The sight of the woman caught Eric's attention for a moment, but he quickly snapped himself out of the strange feeling in his stomach. Below each picture was a link to each of the recruits' service record.

"Magnus, can you transfer each of the service records onto my data pad?" Eric asked his AI as he reached for his data pad.

"You got it," Magnus replied as he snapped his fingers.

Eric unlocked his data pad, opened up the first service record, then began to read. Gavin Vincent. Age 26. Recently passed the Spartan-IV Program. Skills exceed in close-quarter combat as well as in explosive ordnance disposal. Enlisted at age nineteen into the 1st Marines Division under Major General Jefferson Koenig of the UNSC. Stationed in Cleveland, Ohio, United Republic of North America on Earth prior to the Covenant invasion. Main feat during the Battle of Cleveland was single handedly defending a key position at Ohio City, just west and across the river of Cleveland before ODST reinforcements joined up. After the destruction of the Covenant ship called the Harbinger of Piety and retaking the city, Vincent joined alongside the ODSTs to liberate other cities across the United States. After the end of the Human-Covenant War, he was offered a position within the ODSTs and eventually joined the branch. After the Spartan-IV program rendered the ODST branch obsolete, he joined the Spartan-IV Program.

"Interesting candidate, Lasky," Eric commented as he finished reading Vincent's service record. "Gavin Vincent has experience as an EOD trooper?"

"As far as I know. He would be an interesting addition to your roster," Lasky commented back.

Eric nodded in agreement and proceeded to read the next service record. Christian Tundra. Age 30. Recently accepted into the Spartan-IV Program. Skills exceed in marksmanship, stealth, and reconnaissance. Enlisted at age 20 into the Marines stationed at Germany on Earth. Responsible for gathering valuable intelligence and dispatching a Sangheili Zealot in Munich. After the end of of the Human-Covenant War, he was honorably discharged until he requested to join the Spartan-IV program in 2558.

"Anything you could tell me about Christian Tundra, Lasky?" Eric asked.

"He's pretty good with a sniper rifle. I read into a few other of his accomplishments. Nothing too far out of the ordinary in regards to Spartans, but I would say that he's a good candidate," Lasky replied flatly.

Eric continued onto the next candidate. Eric Fiksoe. Age 23. Approved into the Spartan-IV Program despite being at a young age. Skills centralized under the rifleman category. Participated in the Battle of Draetheus V under Commander Palmer and assisted in dispatching Merg Vol.

"Think Fiksoe will fit in Omega? He's pretty inexperienced." Eric asked after reading the fairly short service record.

"His Fireteam leader spoke very highly of his reputation on Draetheus V. I believe he has plenty of potential to do some good," Lasky replied.

Trusting his superior officer's word despite his skepticism, Eric continued onto the last candidate. Savanna Bennett. Age 21. Also approved into the Spartan-IV Program despite being at a young age. Recently passed all of the Spartan-IV requirements. Currently not stationed in any unit. There were several positive comments about her combat skill stating that she was naturally talented.

"Why did you choose this greenhorn?" Eric asked Lasky, clearly unamused by this candidate's short service record.

"Commander Palmer brought her to my attention when she was in training. She passed all of the Spartan training exercises at ease, almost as well as the Spartan-IIs did. Her drill sergeant told Palmer that Bennett was showing signs of possibly being categorized as _hyper lethal_ ," Lasky stated in a serious tone.

Eric was surprised by the suddenly desirable information laid before him. " _Hyper lethal_?" Eric asked in disbelief. "You're telling me that this greenhorn is on the same scale to the Master Chief and Noble Six?"

"That's what Palmer told me. She doesn't play around so I decided to place her on my top four picks," Lasky replied flatly.

"I respect your opinion, Lasky. However, I think that's a pretty bold statement to say that this particular Spartan _could_ be categorized as a hyper lethal vector. She hasn't even seen combat," Eric said, attempting to consider his doubts.

"Neither was Master Chief back when he was in training," Lasky reminded as he shrugged his shoulders.

Eric nodded back to the admiral, but his doubt remained. "Alright, I trust your judgement, Lasky. We'll see how well she does in Omega's simulations."

"So I take it that that's a yes, Commander. You'll take these four recruits?" Lasky asked him for one last confirmation.

Cocking his head, Eric nodded back. "Yeah. They are as good as any other recruits in my book. I'm interested in seeing if Savanna Bennett lives up her reputation. When will they be shipped out to Kepler?"

"As soon as possible. I'll take care of all the paperwork. I'll keep you posted on their status as well as Palmer's decision on Fireteam Phoenix," Lasky assured.

"Sounds good, Admiral. Thanks for helping out," Eric thanked back.

"Good to see you again, Eric. We'll talk soon," Lasky said with a smile across his face.

Eric informally saluted his superior and nodded a thank you. "Until next time, Admiral."

The connection on the screen shut down and Eric looked back down at his data pad, observing the four recruits. "There's a lot to do," he said to himself. And there was. Before he can even consider stationing the recruits into Fireteams, he had to first promote the other existing Spartans he had, starting with Porsche.

Deciding that there was no reason to wait, Eric looked over to Magnus. "Get Porsche in here, Magnus."

"Right now?" The AI perplexingly asked.

"Yeah, right now. There's no time to waste," Eric flatly replied.

"Alright," Magnus replied and disappeared from the hologram terminal.

Eric walked up next to his desk and glanced out the window, trying to consider his words. Part of him wished that Dave was still here because he knew how to speak more profoundly much better than he did. Behind that, Lieutenant Commander Snow was on leave of duty for personal reasons which left Eric alone in this promotional ceremony. Restraining his antisocial tendencies, Eric took a deep breath and convinced himself that this needed to be done, and done _right,_ but quickly. On that note, he wanted to keep this ceremony as informal as possible.

A half hour quickly passed by, unbeknownst to Eric who was caught in a deep trance of thought. Noticing that the door was open, Porsche slowly entered the room to see his commander looking out the window in his dress uniform. Burying his fear of being in the wrong apparel, he cleared his throat in an effort to get his commander's attention. Eric turned around to see Porsche in his new Spartan armor that was imported less than a week ago. His whole armor set was the Venator Thraex variant, colored black, with golden orange highlights.

"Is there something you need, sir?" Porsche asked as he moved into a formal stance in front of Eric's desk.

"Nice set of armor. Looks good on you," Eric complimented. Porsche nodded, but remained silent. "Anyways, yes there is," Eric followed up after the brief moment of silence. "I'll just cut to the chase here. As you know, Spartan Wolf was discharged after the battle on Sanghelios, leaving his position as 1st Platoon Officer vacant. Now, I need someone to take over the platoon. And I decided that you would be the best choice to take over 1st Platoon."

Porsche registered Eric's very sudden news for a long moment in a stern, yet perplexed expression. "Is this a promotion, sir?" He asked flatly.

"Yes it is," Eric simply replied.

Porsche remained silent for a long moment thinking about what this would mean for him. Noticing his long pause and silence, Eric patiently waited for a reply from Porsche, knowing that it was a lot to take in.

"What's going to happen to Jaeger?" Porsche asked after the long pause.

"I wouldn't worry about that now, Porsche. I'm having Spade take leadership over the Fireteam," Eric assured him.

Porsche nodded in agreement. "Spade would be my choice too, sir," Porsche replied. "What does this position entail?"

"You will be in charge of 1st Platoon. That means you will need to keep track of the roster of the three Fireteams in your platoon. You will be working with the Fireteam leaders directly. In terms of training, you can schedule training exercises for your designated Fireteams. In addition, you may work with Spartan Morales if you choose to host a Warzone simulation or a Breakout match. I'll hand you orders on occasion. Lastly, you will be dealing with new recruits. You will be in charge of training them directly and getting them up to speed along with Spartan Morales. After every training session, I expect a whole situation report from you on what happened. Also, I'd prefer if you would write down your personal observations because I do value your opinions as well. Is that clear?" Eric finally closed.

After a moment of taking in all of the responsibilities that were expected from him, he believed that it was his duty, while exhausting, was to accept the terms. "Yes, sir. I may have some questions later on," Porsche replied.

"If you do, don't hesitate to ask. Anyways, Magnus will send you a document on your personal data pad which will provide you with other information like your responsibilities, your new quarters, and everything else. But yeah, you can just come to me if you have any questions," Eric informed him.

"You have my gratitude, sir. What are your orders?" Porsche asked him.

Eric smirked at his question. "Get with Morales and promote Spade to Fireteam Leader for Jaeger. After that, I would like for you to get with Spartan Bishop and notify him that Spartan Dukes will be assuming leadership of Fireteam Cerulean. Magnus will provide you more details on the process of promotion. Also, Ivan will be there to assist. After that, notify Bishop that he will receiving two replacements in his Fireteam. Regendorf will also be rejoining Fireteam Foresight."

"Understood, sir. What of Fireteam Creedance?" Porsche asked.

"I had Creedance decommissioned since there was no one left in the Fireteam. On that note, I spoke to Admiral Lasky about possibly transferring a Fireteam from Commander Palmer's division. He mentioned a specific Fireteam that he wanted to transfer into Omega, but he needs to get the okay from Palmer before he could make the change. So for now, your only direct responsibilities are Fireteam Aries and Foresight. I'll notify you when I know about the replacement Fireteam." Eric picked up his data pad and unlocked it. "Also, let me send you and Morales the service records of the four new recruits. Please read through them thoroughly. Let me know if you have any comments or opinions on them."

"Will do, sir. Anything else?" Porsche asked.

Eric shook his head. "As of right now, no. That should be it. That's a lot as it is."

"I'll get it done, Commander," Porsche assured his leader.

"Good. You're dismissed," Eric said as he saluted Porsche.

Porsche returned the salute to his commander and exited his office with a long list of duties in his head. He wasn't sure if he liked the promotion just yet. Hopefully in due time he will become accustomed to it.

 **Date: March 8th, 2559**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

A week passed by since Eric had his meeting with Admiral Lasky and promoting Porsche to lead 1st Platoon. Since then, Porsche proved to pick up on his responsibilities well. He and Ivan promoted Spade and Dukes to Fireteam leaders. Spade felt honored to be placed in charge of Jaeger and wished Porsche to the best of luck in his new position. Dukes, on the hand, was indifferent on the promotion. It was unknown as to why he was, but he did promise that he wouldn't let Omega down.

As expected, there was a few disappointments within the ranks. Tyler Eilen was visibly jealous of Porsche's promotion, but he remained quiet about it. Despite obeying every order from the new leader of 1st Platoon, it was obvious that he did not agree with Commander Bame's decision. He wished that he could have had a talk with him before he made his choice, but it was way too late to reverse things. So, he went along with it even though he didn't like it. Tyler felt that he hasn't had the chance to show off his leadership skills even though he participated in the raid of the Empire base on Sanghelios. He still felt that his role was small up to the point of base entry. Feeling very frustrated about all of this, he decided that he was going to request Commander Bame that he and his team would take point in the next mission.

On another note, Lasky followed up to Eric about the status of the four new recruits early that week. They were going to arrive Kepler on the 8th of March later in the day. In addition, Lasky also notified Eric that Fireteam Phoenix was granted to be transferred into the Omega Division. Commander Palmer apparently accepted the conditions that Lasky had for her, but reluctantly. Phoenix was one of her best Fireteams next to Majestic and Osiris. However, Lasky's ace in the hole that convinced Palmer was to hand over command of Blue Team to her. It was an offer she couldn't refuse considering she would be directly working with the legend, John-117, along with his team. Lasky then notified Eric that Fireteam Phoenix will be arriving to Kepler on the 10th of March.

With that set in stone, Eric began to go over each Spartan's service records from Phoenix. The Fireteam Leader was named Patrick McCafferty. He was previously assigned to Fireteam Wolf but was placed in charge of Fireteam Phoenix after the death of Phoenix's old Fireteam leader during Operation Wildfire. He was known to be very independent during combat. His reputation of being a lone wolf of Fireteam Wolf earned him the nickname Patdog.

Continuing on with the service record, Spartan McCafferty and his team were deployed on personal classified missions for ONI under the supervision of Commander Sarah Palmer. It was very strange to see all the black ink on the files, so to speak. Most of his activity after Wildfire was confidential. ONI was notorious for that. Eric wondered what Pat and his team may have done. There were many shady things that ONI was responsible for. One of which, which was thankfully a failure on their end, was the bounty on Thel 'Vadam's head. This new Fireteam could very well be a Trojan horse for ONI in an effort to keep a close surveillance on Omega Division's activity. However, they can certainly prove themselves to be valuable assets to the division. Time will tell.

Continuing on with the rest of the service records, the names of the other three Spartans in Phoenix were Joseph Mason, William Wolven, and Shamus Fenn. As expected, their files were also covered in black ink thanks to ONI. Shaking his head in frustration, Eric locked his datapad and tossed it onto his desk.

Suddenly, there was knock on his door. Eric turned his head to see James Regendorf standing at the threshold of his doorway. Glancing at his new prosthetic arm, Eric invited him into his office.

"C'mon in and take a seat, Regendorf. What can I do for you?" Eric asked as sat down behind his desk.

Regendorf calmly walked into the room and sat down in a chair in front of Eric's desk. "I wanted to talk to you about something, sir," he said in stern tone.

"Keep it informal," Eric commented, attempting to make the Spartan feel a little more comfortable. "What's on your mind, James?"

"Well," James said as he started to tinker with his new metallic arm. "I just wanted to talk about my place in this division."

"Go on," Eric said.

"Look, Commander. I really want to stay in active duty in Foresight," James said sternly.

Eric sighed and glanced at James' new prosthetic arm. "Well, I can't have you on duty if your arm will be a liability. I'm sorry, but I can't risk that."

"Commander, I know I can do it," James nearly yelled back. "Look," he said as he started to move the artificial metallic fingers. He then proceeded to make a fist with the metal hand. "I know I can still fight. Please give me a chance," he pleaded.

After a moment of silence, Eric cleared his threat and gently blinked his eyes. "Alright, here's what we're going to do," he said as he leaned forward onto his desk. "I will personally authorize you to test out that arm of yours with each training exercise. As for the War Games, I'll have our technician adjust your avatar in the simulations which will most likely nerf some of your combat skills. After you go through many simulations, I'll personally assess your condition. If I have any sense of doubt in your combat ability, I will discharge you from the division. James, it is not that I doubt your ability as a soldier. I'm trying to keep you and the others alive."

James let out a pained exhale and looked away from his commander. Eric noticed this and leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Look, James. Most division leaders would have discharged you immediately after seeing the severity of your wound. I'm giving you a solid chance to prove to me that you are still a valuable asset in this division despite your current condition. You understand?"

James remained silent but slowly nodded his head.

"Good. This process is effective immediately. Go to the armory and grab your new Spartan armor," Eric ordered. "I'll speak to Bishop about your inquiries and I'm going to have him send me a report of your progress personally. Alright?"

James nodded his head. "Yes, sir. I understand," he said in a monotonic tone.

"Alright. Is that all you wanted to talk about?" Eric asked.

"Yes sir. That is all," James replied as he got to his feet.

"Okay. Good luck, Regendorf. I hope you prove me wrong," Eric genuinely wished the Spartan.

"I will, sir," James assured him with confidence.

With that, he left Eric's office and departed for the armory. Eric glanced at the clock and noticed that the four replacements were going to arrive to Ottawa in less than an hour. It was time to meet the FNGs. He got to his feet and left to his personal armory to put on his Shinobi Heartless Spartan armor.

A half an hour later, Eric approached the landing zone where he met up with Spartans Porsche and Morales.

"Spartans," Eric greeted as he walked in between them. "What's the word?"

"The pelican will be here momentarily, sir. ETA: 3 minutes," Porsche stated as he monitored his personal data pad.

"Sounds good," Eric replied as he looked up into the sky. "How are you boys doing?" He calmly asked them.

"Feeling fine," Porsche replied flatly.

"Can't complain, I guess," Ivan replied. "How about you, Commander?"

"Another day, another adventure," Eric sarcastically replied which awarded him a laugh from Ivan and smirk on Porsche.

Finally, the pelican came into view and proceeded to descend onto the landing zone. The back end opened up as the pelican touched the ground. Eric watched as the four replacements exited the pelican with their recruit variant Spartan armor on. They quickly formed up in a line in front of the three superiors. Eric had an impressed expression across his face after witnessing how disciplined they already were.

After giving each of them a welcoming glance and nod, Eric began to speak. "Welcome to Outpost Ottawa, Spartans," Eric greeted. "I am Commander Bame and these two Spartans here are Spartan Porsche and Spartan Morales. They are both the leaders of 1st and 2nd Platoon. To my knowledge, they already have you all placed in a Fireteam. I'll let them talk," Eric said as he turned to his two officers.

Porsche glanced down at his data pad then looked back up at the recruits. "Which of you are Gavin Vincent and Christian Tundra?" He asked sternly.

Two Spartans took a step forward.

"Sir," Vincent formally announced himself at attention.

"I am," Tundra replied in a more informal tone.

Porsche recognized the differences of both Spartans in an instant. He clearly took a liking to the dutiful and respectfully attitude of Vincent. As for Tundra, he doubted that he was going to like him at all. However, he wasn't in the Spartan program to make friends so he shook it off.

"Both of you will be placed in Fireteam Foresight under Fireteam Leader Bishop. I am the C.O. of Foresight so if either of you have any questions, you let me know. Understood?" Porsche stated in a stern tone.

"Yes, sir," they both replied. Porsche nodded and looked to Morales.

Morales then glanced at his data pad and calmly looked at the remaining two recruits. "Which leaves me with Spartan Eric Fiksoe and Spartan Savanna Bennett, yes?" He said calmly as he looked at the two.

"Yes, sir," both Fiksoe and Bennett replied at attention.

"Yeah, good. Spartan Fiksoe, you'll be joining Fireteam Jaeger with Spartan Matthew Spade. As for you, Spartan Bennett," he said looking at Savanna who was standing at attention. "You will be joining Spartan Dukes in Fireteam Cerulean. As you both already know, I am Spartan Ivan Morales, the leader of 2nd Platoon. I'll be helping you both in training. If you have any questions, feel free to come to me. Sound good?" He said in a calm tone. Both Spartans nodded. "Alright. Glad to have you all with us," he genuinely announced to all four replacements. "Commander," he said passing the torch back to Eric.

Eric nodded and cleared his throat. "Our AI, Magnus, will guide you to your designated barracks. Simulations in the War Games will start in two days. Until then, you will be training with your designated Fireteams. I ask that you all make an effort to get to know the Spartans within your Fireteam. When all's said and done, your Fireteam will be your family in this division. That family-like bond will be your best weapon against the Empire. Without it, we will lose everything. Is that understood Spartans?" Eric genuinely asked them all directly.

"Yes sir," they all replied.

"Good. You're all dismissed. Magnus, take them to their barracks," Eric ordered the AI.

"You got it, Commander," Magnus replied back through the communication network. "Alright Spartans, just follow the NAV point on your HUD. Your teams will be waiting for you."

With that, the replacements departed to their barracks leaving the three officers of Omega amongst each other. Eric glanced at both Porsche and Ivan. "What do you guys think? Think they will fit in?"

Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, I think they will be fine. Spade is a pretty good man and leader and I think Fiksoe will fit in just fine. Carboni and Frost aren't the hazing types either. Jaeger will be fine. As for Bennett, I also think she will fit well in Cerulean since she will have a female teammate. I still have yet to see Dukes's leadership abilities, but I have faith in that Fireteam as well," Ivan figured, attempting to stay optimistic on his observations.

Porsche began to speak his mind. "I'm not worried about Vincent. I have little doubt that he will be a problem in his unit. I'm more concerned about Tundra. With Regendorf back in Foresight, my concern is the relationship between Tundra and Regendorf. And we all know that Bishop is a very admirable individual, not very deliberate. If tensions arise between Tundra and Regendorf, I'm not sure if Bishop will be able to handle the situation accordingly," he stated in all honesty.

Eric acknowledged his concern with a stern nod. "I'll keep that in mind", he said flatly. "I wouldn't get too excited about it now. No sense in fixing something that isn't broken."

Porsche slightly shook his head in disagreement. "Applying a crucial part that is out of tolerance to a machine will still result in a broken machine after a short time."

Eric glared at Porsche after registering his pessimistic metaphor. "But we aren't talking about machines here, Porsche. Have some faith," he ordered him in a serious tone.

Porsche suppressed the urge to share his opinions more and reluctantly nodded. "Okay, Commander," he replied back in monotonic tone.

"Let's see how things go," Eric stated as he watched the recruits disappear into their barracks at a distance.

Cautiously walking through the barracks holding his pack, Gavin took the opportunity to glance into each room he and the other three Spartans were passing by while Magnus guided them to their designated rooms. Inside the first room he walked past which had a sign outside that read "Aries", Gavin noticed four Spartans in their own specialized armor with their helmets of. One of them locked eyes with him for the brief moment. He had black hair and Germanic features. Gavin figured that he must of been the Fireteam leader based on his posture.

The next room he walked past had no sign next to it and it was empty inside. He wondered why the room was empty but didn't think into it very hard. The next room he walked to had two Spartans in there, one of them had a prosthetic arm. Both of them had their helmets on.

"Vincent, Tundra," Magnus announced in their HUD. "This is where you will be staying."

Both Vincent and Tundra briefly glanced at each other and slowly entered the room where the two other Spartans got to their feet to greet them. The Spartan with the prosthetic arm was slightly larger than the other. The smaller Spartan walked up to them and extended his hand.

"You two must be the new guys," he announced as he shook both of their hands. Both Gavin and Tundra nodded their heads but remained quiet. The Spartan brought his hand to his chest. "I'm Brayden Bishop, the leader of Foresight," he casually introduced himself. He then pointed behind him at the other larger Spartan who had his arms crossed. "That's James Regendorf. You can call me Bishop. What are your names?"

"Gavin Vincent," Gavin replied.

"I'm Christian Tundra," Tundra replied.

"Glad to meet you both. I'm pumped to see how good you guys are in combat," Bishop said with enthusiasm. His enthusiasm caused Regendorf to let out a faint amused huff in helmet.

Gavin noticed his huff but remained silent. He was familiar with how replacements were typically treated and knew that the hazing-like behavior from the original soldiers would eventually subside. That's how it was when he joined the ODSTs back in the day. In fact, his hazing when he joined was terrible the moment he greeted his unit. So comparatively speaking, the Spartans of Omega were very welcoming to their replacements as opposed to the ODSTs.

On the other hand, Tundra was not very thrilled with Regendorf's action and he glared at the larger Spartan. "So, is he always this silent?" He asked Bishop.

Bishop briefly glanced back at Regendorf who seemed unamused by Tundra's question. "You can say that. One can argue that he's a man of action, not words," Bishop stated, attempting to ease any tension between the two Spartans.

"Uh huh," Tundra groaned while nodding his head slowly. "So where we sleeping?" He asked Bishop.

Bishop took a moment to glance around the room and pointed at one of the two bunk beds. "That one is for both of ya," he said which oddly earned him a strange look from Regendorf.

"Good, I call top bunk," Tundra said as he threw his pack on the top part. Gavin shrugged, not caring which bed was his and threw his bag on the bottom bunk.

"Alright, nice," Bishop said. "Anyways, Porsche ordered us to run through some trainings in an hour. So, let's head over there and get that done." With that, the four Spartans departed their room for the training exercises.

The training which they called a Campus Training lasted for a few hours. It was mostly focused on discipline, mobility, and vehicle operations which was mainly a convoy training. To Gavin, it was like going back to the basics. It was an easy and relaxing training session. Furthermore, Spartan Porsche hosted the training himself. The Spartans that attended the training were from both Gavin's Fireteam and from Fireteam Aries.

During the training, he was able to learn the names of each Spartan from Aries. The Spartan that he locked eyes with in the hallway was Spartan Tyler Eilen. Gavin admired his compassion towards his teammates, even though he seemed to have trouble with one particular member that went by the name "Angel". Gavin wasn't sure if that was his actual name or a nickname. He found Angel's snarkiness and sarcastic approach to things pretty comical. However, both Porsche and Eilen didn't think so. Eilen didn't yell in Angel's face when he joked around like Porsche did. Eilen approached the situation in a very particular way where he bargained Angel for simple discipline. Sometimes it worked. Other times, not so much. Either way, it was very funny to Gavin.

Another member of Aries that Gavin made an effort to name was the British Spartan named Scythe. Gavin didn't hear his first name. Anyways, Scythe was apparently their sharp shooter and spotter. Two in one. Bishop mentioned that he was one of the best he's seen. His personality was also fairly sarcastic but he didn't disrupt the training at any point. He was more of a "matter-of-fact" type of individual. Very conservative by nature. Maybe somewhat condescending. All in all, he was a very loyal teammate to his Fireteam. As for the last Spartan of Aries, who was named James Rodriguez, he was rather quiet. He took orders willingly but mostly remained silent.

After the training, all of the Spartans in the division attended the mess hall. After grabbing a tray of chow, Gavin sat down at a table with his Fireteam. In his seat, he had a good view of all of the other Spartans in the division. It was interesting for him to see everyone out of uniform. He spotted a the other two replacements sitting with their Fireteam. Fiksoe seemed to fit in with his team very well. Spade has been in conversation with him since Gavin arrived to the mess hall. As for Bennett, she remained silent in her seat, mostly listening to the other female Spartan in her Fireteam, named Kait, ramble about how happy she was that she wasn't the only girl in the division. The other two Spartans in her team were letting Kait talk and laughed at her giddy attitude here and there. Even Bennett cracked a smile a few times.

Then there was one thing that caught Gavin's full attention. At the table where the Spartans of Aries were sitting, he overheard Angel boasting about how he was going to get with the new girl. Granted, Savanna Bennett caught every man's eye when she walked into the mess hall, but Angel decided to take it to the next level. Finally, it came to the point where he started to catcalling her from across the mess hall. Gavin quickly turned his head to see Bennett's reaction who seemed to completely ignore Angel's advances. The rest of the Spartans in Cerulean were fully aware of the situation at hand. Dukes turned around glared at Angel. Then suddenly, Angel got to his feet and began approaching Savanna.

Bishop also noticed this and abruptly stopped his conversation with Tundra, which then made both Tundra and Regendorf turn around to see what the commotion was about. Bishop sighed and shook his head. "Here we go," he muttered in an annoyed tone.

"Hey baby," Angel announced with a confident smile across his face.

Savanna looked up at him with an expression of annoyance and disgust, but she didn't say anything in reply.

Angel chuckled, thinking that she was playing hard to get. "How are ya doin?" He confidently asked.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm fine," she quickly replied.

"Mind if I buy ya a drink?" Angel boldly asked her with that same confident smile. Savanna ignored the question again, but that didn't stop Angel. "Or maybe you just one some one-on-one physical training with me if you catch my drift," he boldly suggested as he placed his hand on her right shoulder.

Suddenly in less than an instant, she gripped his hand as she swiftly got to her feet, then effortless flipped Angel over her shoulder, landing him on his stomach with a loud thud. Savanna kept her tight grip on his arm, pulling it up with a lot of force, then swiftly applied all her weight through her knee onto his back. Angel started yelling out in excruciating pain as she violently twisted his arm behind his back.

The sudden turn of the event completely and utterly astonished everyone in the mess hall. Some of them were yelling out in awe. Some were left speechless. Gavin found himself in awe with his mouth and eyes wide open. Nobody was expecting to see this! The Fireteam Leaders for both teams quickly got to their feet and rushed to the scene.

Dukes started to pull Savanna off of Angel, but was surprised to find it difficult to do so. "Spartan, let go now! Seriously, let go or you will be Court Martialed!" He warned her. She directed her venomous glare toward Dukes who seemed unfazed by it. "I'm serious! I don't want to see you get Court Martialed on your first day!" He warned her.

After a moment of considering her options and also composing her lethal temper, she let go of Angel's arm and got to her feet. Needless to say, she still glared down at the humiliated Spartan. Dukes took a deep breath and gently blinked. "Thank you, Savanna," he gasped in relief.

Tyler quickly crouched beside Angel and started to lift him to his feet. With his feelings washed with humiliation and anger, he pushed Tyler away from him and struggled to his feet. He then took one moment to glare back at the girl who effortlessly subdued him in an instant and fought back every urge to insult or retaliate back knowing that it would most likely result with him on the ground again, but with maybe a broken arm. This girl meant business. Before he allowed himself to make anymore impulsive decisions, he turned around and began storming out of the room.

Tyler looked over to Dukes with the most shocked expression across his face. "Well," he started saying. "He certainly got what he asked for," he said as a smile cracked across his face. Dukes began laughing along with Tyler and agreed. Tyler then looked to Savanna. "Nice job," he congratulated her with a thumbs up. "That was the first time anyone put Angel in place, _effectively_."

The statement instantly wiped the venomous glare off of Savanna's face and a reluctant smile started to form across her face. Kait started laughing as well and began to cheer for her. "Damn Sav! You're a beast! You go girl!" She shouted, causing Savanna's shy smile grow wider and wider.

"I'd like to see how well you do in the War Games," Tyler said in excitement. "I feel bad for those sorry S.O.B.'s who will be up against you."

On that note, the rest of the time at the mess hall was focused around Savanna. Some Spartans were asking if they could spar with her so _they_ can better their own skills! She found herself being the center of attention for the time being and she couldn't decide if she liked it or not, but it did feel good that she already made a reputation in the division. At the other end of the mess, Gavin and the rest of his team were still left in shock after witnessing the impressive display of submission.

"Gee," Gavin said in awe. "I feel bad for the team that's facing against her tomorrow."

Bishop looked over to him with a flat expression. "That's us."


	12. Her

**Date: March 9th, 2559**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

It's the day of Breakout simulations. Gavin was fully aware of what he and his team were getting into. The Breakout match was pitted Fireteams Cerulean and Foresight against each other. Bame, Porsche, and Ivan all wanted to see how the new recruits behaved in simulated combat. With Spartan Bennett already having a reputation among the division, Commander Bame was interested to see how she would perform in this match up.

Gavin linked into the simulation program via his neural interface along with the rest of his Fireteam. Before his consciousness flashed into the virtual reality, he glanced across the room at the four members of Cerulean, particularly at Spartan Bennett who seemed very calm and collected. Just before the program launched, he locked eyes with her. For that split second, her gaze sent chills down his spine. Fear.

"Commencing Breakout simulation," Commander Bame's voice announced through the communications network.

Immediately, Gavin's consciousness flashed into a virtual reality where he found himself standing next to his teammates on a platform with four man cannons. Each other them were wearing blue Spartan Armor and wielding an SMG and a magnum. Gavin checked his ammo supply and found that he had two clips on reserve for each weapon.

"Ready up Spartans," Magnus announced through their HUDs. Each of the Spartans moved into a preparatory position and waited for the countdown.

"Three, two, one, go."

The four Spartans dashed for the man cannons and were launched into the virtual arena.

"Go, go, go," Bishop yelled out.

As they landed on the ground, Gavin immediately dashed for the battle rifle. Tundra followed close behind him as both Bishop and Regendorf started sprinting towards the right side for the Hydra Launcher.

"Three of them went left side, the other went on your side, Vincent," Bishop called out.

Immediately, Gavin heard gunfire on the bridge where the Hydra Launcher was at. He quickly aimed his battle rifle down towards the bridge where he saw three red Spartans firing at his two teammates, then proceeded to open fire at them. Tundra chucked a grenade over to them which took out one of them. With one of them having their shields gone from the blast, Gavin fired a single burst at their head, causing him to drop. The last Spartan was finished off by Regendorf who charged at the red Spartan with zeal and decking him across the face. With three red Spartans down, there was one more to go.

"Nicely done, boys," Bishop announced. "One last Spartan to go."

Gavin jumped up to the platform and searched for the remaining enemy with his SMG drawn. Tundra quickly ran around one of the pillars with his SMG drawn. With the flag in sight, Gavin began rushing towards it without hesitation. As his hand grasped the flag, a red x popped up behind him. He quickly turned around and aimed his SMG down the direction of the indicator. Tundra was down.

"Tundra is down," Gavin called out.

"Got it, we're on our way," Bishop called back.

It had to be her. He didn't hear a damn thing. It was very sudden to him when he saw Tundra's IFF tag ping red on his HUD.

"Get the flag to the goal. We'll cover you," Bishop ordered him.

Gavin turned around and started running for the red team's goal with the flag in his grasp. As he jumped down from the platform, Bishop's IFF pinged red. With only several feet away from the goal, he decided to dash for it rather than turning back. Suddenly, he felt a sharp blade penetrate his lower back causing him to let go of the flag and to drop to the floor. He flipped over and drew his magnum to see nothing but Regendorf's indicator rushing towards him. The giant Spartan was suddenly tackled by an invisible force over an edge that dropped six feet. The invisible being then revealed itself. It was her.

Regendorf roared as he kicked her off of him. She quickly got to her feet, then didn't waste a moment to counter any of Regendorf's attacks. Each of his attempts to land a hit were thwarted by the sheer speed of her counters, and his efforts, by no means, were not simple to counter, but she made it look easy. Gavin knew that just one of his punches would knock him clean out.

Frustrated by the failures of each attack, Regendorf snarled and attempted to grapple her. As he reached for her neck, she grabbed onto his metallic arm and hopped onto his back. With all her built up momentum, she swiftly leaned forward causing the big Spartan to lose his balance, then flipped him over and had his metallic arm in a tight armbar. With her body tightly grasping around his arm, she bowed her back upward, snapping the metallic arm off from its appendage. Regendorf roared out in pain, but tried to grab her with his remaining hand. But it was no use. She stomped on his face with all her might and drew his blade from his sheath. She then slammed the blade into his chest, rendering him motionless.

Gavin's heart rate immediately began to skyrocket. He started firing rounds out of his magnum vigorously at the female Spartan. She turned her attention towards him and quickly pulled the blade out of the motionless body. Seemingly unfazed by each round hitting her shield, she flung Regendorf's blade at Gavin which penetrated him in the chest. White flashed in his eyes and the next thing he knew, he was standing next to his Fireteam on the beginning platform. The first round was over. Gavin glanced to his teammates who were shocked at what had just happened.

"That girl just took us all out alone," Tundra muttered in shock.

"I'm _not_ okay with this," Regendorf sneered.

"Alright, we need to target her first before we do anything else," Bishop ordered. "She's going for the active camo, we need to beat her to it."

"Ready Spartans?" Magnus announced. "Three, two, one, go."

The four Spartans launched into the arena and they all formed up next to the battle rifle. Gavin picked up the battle rifle and hopped onto the platform. Regendorf and Tundra started running down the center to find themselves in a firefight with two red Spartans. Both Gavin and Bishop took the time to run after the active camo which was just next to the flag. Bishop ran up and slapped the armor mod onto his armor, causing him to vanish in thin air.

"I got camo," Bishop announced.

Gavin focused his attention on one red Spartan making a break for the Hydra and immediately started firing bursts at the Spartan. While leading each three round burst, he saw the red Spartan's shields diminished, but the Spartan somersaulted towards the Hydra, picking it up, and dropped below the bridge out of sight.

"They got Hydra," Gavin called out.

His attention was then directed over to two red Spartans keeping both Regendorf and Tundra hunkered down in a bad position. Before he pulled the trigger, Bishop appeared behind them and took them out. Suddenly, the round was over. Gavin turned around to see that the flag was gone. They scored. Those Spartans were meant to create a diversion.

Each Spartan of Foresight suddenly appeared back on the platform. They all exchanged shocked glances amongst one another.

"They got our flag?" Tundra cried out.

"It would seem so," Bishop replied flatly.

"Ready up Spartans," Magnus announced. "Three, two, one, go."

The four Spartans of Foresight rushed for the man canons for the third round. As they hit the ground, they were already greeted by the sight of a live grenade hurled towards them.

"Grenade!" Gavin yelled out as he dove away from the explosive.

The grenade exploded, taking down both Tundra's and Bishop's shields. As the four Spartans got to their feet, they drew their SMGs and pointed at the center of the arena. Without any warning, they were receiving waves of bullets in open sight. They were sitting ducks. They returned fire in every direction but it was no use, both Tundra and Bishop were already down. Regendorf yelled out in anger as he chucked a grenade at one of the red Spartans. The grenade exploded, taking down one of the reds. Then suddenly, Regendorf dropped from being shot in the head.

Gavin found himself alone once again. With his SMG still gripped in his right hand, Gavin drew his magnum with his left and aimed at one red Spartan that was charging at him. Thankfully, he mowed him down before he got too close. He spotted one of the reds going after the Hydra and immediately started firing his magnum at the red Spartan. It wasn't _her_ though, it was the other female of Cerulean, Kaitlyn Rene. He saw as she dove off from the bridge before she could grab the Hydra Launcher.

Without any hesitation, he rushed for small corridors under the bridge for Kait. She was still laying on the ground holding her left leg in pain. Gavin noticed the bullet wound in her leg and charged at her with his knife drawn. Before he could thrust his blade down into her chest, an invisible force launched him several feet backward, losing the grip on his knife and SMG.

He quickly looked back up to see _her_ slowly appear in front of the wounded Spartan with her blade in her hand. Gavin quickly drew his magnum and repeatedly pulled the trigger. She dodged the bullets at ease and charged at him. He eventually found that his pistol was dry and chucked it away. He then pulled out his only grenade and primed it after seeing that he could make possible make this round a draw between the two teams. The blast would take out the three remaining Spartans.

The sight of the grenade caused her to briefly hesitate. She glanced back at her teammate, then around at her surroundings. Just before the grenade exploded, she tackled Gavin and began to push both him and her away from Kait. The grenade exploded, taking out both her and Gavin, but left Kait in the arena alone. As a result, the red team won the round by default with one red Spartan standing, so to speak.

The eight Spartans then appeared on a platform together where they were all looking at the leaderboards. Blue team, in this case, Fireteam Foresight was swept by Fireteam Cerulean. At the top of the list of the red team showed Spartan Savanna Bennett with the most kills and some assists, with only one death. The rest of the red team was left with a few kills and mostly assists. The sight of the results caused the members of Cerulean to cheered amongst each other, except for Bennett who stood staring at the leaderboards in deep thought. The members of Foresight all remained silent and humiliated. They weren't expecting to be swept this badly.

"War Games simulation concluded. Prepare to be awakened, Spartans," Magnus stated.

Suddenly, each Spartan woke up in their simulation stations. Right on cue, each of the simulation engineers gathered around a Spartan to unlink their neural interfaces from the War Games program. After being completely unhooked, the four Spartans rose to their feet. Gavin cracked his back and neck as he stood up. His body was in a little bit of shock after his brain believed that it was recently blown to bits. Gavin still remembers the pain that was inflicted on him in the War Games, but it wasn't as bad as actually getting shot or stabbed in reality.

After a quick stretch, both Fireteam leaders walked up to each other and shooks hands.

"Good match," Dukes said with a faint smile.

Bishop slightly rolled his eyes and smirked at the blunt comment. "Yeah, sure. Thanks for the ass kicking," he sarcastically replied back with a smile.

"Thank her," Dukes replied, pointing at the young Spartan protégé.

Savanna heard this and gave Bishop a faint smile as if she was embarrassed or modest of her performance. From there, she quickly left the simulation center alone. Gavin wondered why she seemed so upset despite her decisive victory against Foresight. Part of him wanted to see if he could help her in any way, but the other part made him ask himself if he wanted to be flipped over and placed in submission. Needless to say, he didn't want to be more humiliated so he decided against it. Maybe someday he will be able to help her out.

On the other hand, Gavin sensed an intense cloud of rage around Regendorf who stood next to Tundra with both of his fists clenched tightly. He then began to march out of the center. Gavin quickly moved out of his way in order to not be trampled by the giant livid Spartan with a metal arm. The sudden display of rage caused both Tundra and Gavin to exchange wary glances between each other.

"Don't worry about him. He just hates losing," Bishop commented calmly.

"Shouldn't we be worried if he decides to have his revenge on Savanna?" Gavin asked his Fireteam leader.

Bishop looked back up at the giant Spartan who was marching out of the center and shook his head with his eyebrows squinting. "Nah. He's not a troublemaker. Plus he knows that that's a fight he will lose. Either way, he wouldn't get into a fight with his teammates outside of the War Games. He's a fierce teammate," Bishop reassuringly concluded. "He's probably going to the gun range to blow off some steam. He loves that Smart Gun of his."

"Smart Gun?" Gavin asked in bewilderment. He had never heard of such weapon.

Bishop looked over to him in confusion but then realized that Gavin, and Tundra for that matter, weren't familiar with the division's special ordinance. "That's right, you guys aren't familiar with the fancy weapons we have in Omega. Come on, I'll show you them."

Forty-five minutes later, the three Spartans arrived at the gun range in their Spartan armor. At the range, they saw four Spartans at a few of the stations firing an assortment of firearms. One of them was Regendorf and he was holding a giant gun that had to be six feet in length with a large drum magazine on the side. What was strange to Gavin and Tundra was that he holding the weapon at the hip. Bishop lead the two new members of the team to Regendorf. Regendorf gave them a brief glance, then immediately went back to loading his weapon. He swiftly pulled the chamber back and let go, injecting a round into the chamber.

The moment he squeezed the trigger, the ground began to shake around him. There were was continuous roar from the end of the barrel where they saw three repeated uniform cylindrical flashes bursting out of the muzzle break at the end of the barrel. Even through their helmets, the continuous reports from the weapon was utterly deafening. The two new Spartans glanced down the range at the target which was a measly piece of sheet metal. And it was being completely torn up. The two Spartans were astonished by the sheer power of the heavy machine gun.

"That, my dear Spartans, is the Smart Gun," Bishop commented with a giant smile across his face. "She's a beauty, isn't she?"

"She's sexy as fuck," Tundra replied back. "Where can I get one?"

Bishop simply pointed at the gunsmith. "Go try one out for yourself," he said. Without any hesitation, Tundra rushed over to the gunsmith to ask for one of the powerful machine guns.

Gavin watched how eager Tundra was with getting a Smart Gun of his own. He was intrigued by the weapon, but he never preferred heavy machine guns, so he turned back to Bishop. "What about the other special ordinance?" He asked.

"Well, the other two special weapons that FLEETCOM provided us are the pulse rifle and flamethrower. The flamethrower is basically a smaller version of the one you already know, just a lot more portable and easy to change gas canisters. The pulse rifle, on the other hand," Bishop paused, attempting to get an idea of how to describe it. "It's much like the assault rifle, but much more specialized. It's fully automatic and it fires a different type of armor piercing round that kind of explodes. The rounds are not as explosive as the rounds used for The Answer, but they were designed to be super effective against Xenomorph chitin. It's still very effective against other enemies too, but it's designed to be effective against organisms with an exoskeleton."

Gavin slowly nodded, trying to process all the information about this pulse rifle. "So it's a more standardized rifle?"

"I guess so. We don't really have a lot of them, but I guess you can say it's the standardized weapon _among_ the specialized weapons. Anyways, those are the only three that I know of. Porsche said that we might be getting some more specialized weapons pretty soon and he mentioned that one of them is like an SMG. You strike me as person who prefers speed over bulk," Bishop commented flatly.

"Yeah, I do prefer agility," Gavin replied.

"Yeah, so once I know more about the specialized weapons, you'll be the first to know. Until then, want to try out that pulse rifle?" Bishop asked him.

"Yeah, why not?" Gavin replied.

 **Date: March 10th, 2559**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

Eric found himself in his office reviewing the Breakout matches that happened the day before. Yesterday was a very busy day for Fireteam Cerulean since they competed against all of the other Fireteams in Breakout matches. The results were beyond staggering. Cerulean swept all the other Fireteams, no doubt because of Cerulean's new protégé, Spartan Savanna Bennett. She laid waste to all of Omega's Spartans. Her statistics on the leaderboards after every match had her at the top of the list with the most kills and least deaths.

A few things that Eric did notice were that her assists were relatively low and her teammates' death count were much higher than hers. Based on the statistics, she was acting like a lone wolf. She acted on her own accord. Granted, Dukes was still relatively new at leading a Fireteam, but he still should have noticed that she was acting on her own. Either that, or he just let her do what she wanted. If that was the case, Eric will have to speak to Dukes personally.

Either way, he needed to have a word with Savanna Bennett. Her skills far exceeded any of her teammates, which was good and bad on many levels. Besides that, he also needed to know about her past. Eric knew absolutely nothing about her since her civilian records were also full of black ink.

On another note, today was the day that Fireteam Phoenix was arriving to Outpost Ottawa. Eric would have gone down to the airfield and greet them personally, but there were more pressing matters at hand. Earlier today, he received an email from Admiral Lasky about a possible scouting mission on Doisac that would take place in a few days. The mission was dubbed Operation Paperweight. The mission details basically stated that the mission was strictly reconnaissance and extremely low profile. The objective for the scouting mission was to obtain more intelligence on the major Jiralhanae tribes across the regions and possibly gain more intel on Empire activity.

In order to do this effectively and quietly, Eric would have to assign Fireteam Ghost to the operation. He also hoped that the Sangheili would assist them on this operation. The Arbiter gladly offered Eric several of his strike teams as a token after purging the Empire from Sanghelios. So, a human-Sangheili joint operation would be an added bonus, if not, more than that. But before he could request the Arbiter for a stealth team, he needed to have a mission briefing with Spartan Michael Black and the rest of his Fireteam, which was going to happen momentarily.

After a few moments of rereading the mission details, Eric heard a knock on his door. He glanced up at the door and cleared his throat. "Come in," he flatly answered.

The door opened, revealing each of the members of Fireteam Ghost wearing their Spartan jumpsuits. Michael Black was the first to enter Eric's office. The rest of his team followed behind him and they all lined up in front of Eric's desk to stand at attention. Eric got to his feet and gently waved his hand.

"At ease, Spartans," he calmly said. "Make yourself comfortable because we have a lot to talk about."

The four Spartans eased their stance and glanced around the room. Two of the Spartans, James Mangold and Alexander Macy, didn't hesitate to take a seat in the chairs in front of Eric's desk. Their nonchalant decision to take a seat, despite being in their commander's office, much less, being in the presence of their commander caused Eric to grin. He took note of their comfortable level with their division leader, wondering if it was right or wrong of him to allow his Spartans to act so comfortable around him. He personally liked it because it made things easier for him.

Anyways, Eric walked up next to the screen holding his data pad in his. He tapped the screen a few times and the screen suddenly turned on. On the screen was a giant paragraph about the mission details and a map of a couple regions on Doisac with pictures of four Brute chieftains at each designated region.

"Alright, Spartans. This is Operation Paperweight," Eric stated as he pointed at the screen. "This is a stealth-based reconnaissance mission on Doisac. Very low profile. Your objective is to quietly infiltrate each of these locations and record some intel on these four brutes and their tribes. ONI believes that they are the prime targets of interest. We're not sure where they stand, but definitely assume that they are all hostile. As for the Empire, we know that they have some kind of affiliation on the planet. Besides that, we know nothing else. I may ask the Arbiter for a stealth team to assist you on this scouting mission, but I will leave that up to you four. What questions do any of you have?"

Michael Black, who had his arms crossed and had a serious expression across his face, faintly nodded his head. "When will this op take place?" He asked flatly.

"Lasky mentioned in a few days. I'll let you know by the end of the day," Eric answered.

Nathan Mangold nonchalantly raised two of his fingers. "What is the threat level?"

"Very high, which is why ONI wants us to scout each of the locations," Eric replied. "You all know how the brutes are. Vicious, relentless, no mercy. A bunch of dumb apes with very short tempers. If they discover you, expect an attack from an army of angry apes. We're still not their greatest fans even though the great war ended six years ago."

The alarming risk factor for the mission surprisingly caused Mangold to chuckle. "Well," he said with a sly smile. "That's very reassuring."

Disregarding Mangold's comment, the fourth Spartan, Collin Humble, cleared his throat. "How long will this mission be?"

"Probably a week at most," Eric replied. "So definitely pack some extra gear. Also, extraction will be a little iffy. Once you guys get enough intel of each chieftain, contact your extraction team and they will give you a LZ that is secluded. I'm going to assume that the extraction point is going to be quite of hike, so be prepared for that."

"What kind of intel are we looking to get, Commander?" Alex Macy politely asked.

"Any intel is good intel. Anything from MOABs to any of the chieftains' favorite meal. It's to your own discretion. Just make sure that you have enough of it," Eric replied. He glanced around at the Spartans for a brief moment and shrugged. "If the worst case scenario happens and you are all attacked, contact the dropship of your situation, then retreat into the forests and operate as guerrillas. The dropship will contact us and we will jump to Doisac to assist."

The four Spartans were clearly not thrilled about the contingency plan. Basically, if they got caught, they are on their own until help arrives which would probably take, at the very least, a day. That would mean they would have to fight off an entire army of brutes for whole day.

Eric studied the concerned expressions across each Spartan's face and he let out a guilty sigh. "I know this sounds like a suicide mission," Eric grimly commented. "But, this needs to be done and you four are one of the best reconnaissance teams in the entire UNSC. I wouldn't have chosen you four if I didn't believe that you guys couldn't pull it off. I _know_ you boys can complete the mission."

Eric's genuine comment surprisingly did lift their spirits up a bit. None of them doubted their abilities as Spartans. Michael Black nodded a thank you to Eric.

"Lastly," Eric said after remembering one last thing. "I want you all to conceal your identities. Meaning that each of you will be using a designated callsign of your choice," Eric informed as he looked at each of them. "We might as well get this done now. These callsigns will be off the record."

Macy shrugged his shoulders as he looked back over to Eric. "Mine will be Gummies," he stated nonchalantly.

The strange callsign caused Eric to give him a confused expression. " _Gummies_?" He asked.

"Yeah. Gummies," Macy simply replied with a straight face. "You definitely won't forget it," he added with a smile.

After briefly pondering his comment, Eric nodded his head in agreement but couldn't fight the urge to laugh. "Well, you're not wrong about that," he laughed. "Alright, fine. Gummies it is, then," Eric concluded with a smile still across his face. He then looked over to the next Spartan, who was Mangold. "What about you?"

"Mango," James replied without hesitation.

The second strange nickname made the other Spartans laugh at the absurdity. Eric was left wondering why they both chose these strange names as opposed to something else any other person would choose.

"You want _Mango_ as your callsign?" Eric questioned while still smiling.

Mangold simply shrugged. "Yeah. Same premise as _Gummies_ over here," he commented as he looked to Macy who shrugged in agreement. "You definitely won't forget it."

Eric shook his head at the absurdity, but brushed it off after thinking that it was better for them to think of their own callsigns as opposed to assigning them one. He then looked over to Humble. "Yours?"

Collin thought about it for a moment, but didn't want to jump on the absurd nickname bandwagon. So, he chose something fairly basic. "Phantom works," he finally said.

Eric let out a breath of relief after registering his choice. "Phantom. Simple. Easy to remember. Sounds good," he flatly replied. He then looked over to Michael Black. "And yours?"

Black remained stoic as he looked back at his commander. "Ghost is fine," he said flatly.

Eric nodded his head in agreement. "Ghost it is. Alright," he said as he looked around at each Spartan. "Now, you will all be given a new Spartan Armor set. Particularly the Recluse variants. Speak to Ivan. He'll show you where you can get it. Anyways, that's all the info I got for you today, Spartans. I'll keep you all posted about any more details that ONI will send me. Until then, try out your new suits. Sound good?"

"Yes, sir," the four Spartans replied.

"Alright, you're all dismissed," Eric concluded.

The four Spartans all left his office, leaving Eric to his thoughts about what he had to do next. He glanced around on his desk for any notes that he may have left himself. Frustrated about forgetting about one deed he knew that he had to do, he sat down into his chair and started tapping on the wood of his desk with his finger tips.

Noticing his commander's obvious perplexed expression and restless tone of posture, Magnus materialized into the hologram station next to Eric's desk. "Forgetting something, Commander?" The AI politely asked him.

Surprised by the sudden voice before him, Eric quickly looked up at Magnus like a deer in headlights. Realizing the sudden jumpiness from his commander, Magnus took the opportunity to crack a joke. "Did I just catch a Spartan-III off guard?" He flippantly said.

Eric rolled his eyes at the AI's joke and leaned back in his chair. "So it would seem," he admitted in an annoyed tone, going along with the joke.

Magnus snickered for a moment, then went back to the point. "You seem frustrated about something," he said.

Eric merely nodded. "About a lot of things, Magnus," Eric replied back. "But mostly because I lost my train of thought. Either way, I know that I've been pretty jumpy a lot," he admitted, mostly to himself.

He suddenly realized that he was heading deeper in his thoughts. Afraid of getting into a hearty-heart discussion with an _AI_ , he cleared his throat and shook his head. "Sorry, Magnus. I'm not getting into this right now," he quickly concluded.

Magnus suspected that there was definitely something more to Eric's sudden change of topic. "Sir, are you alright?" He asked as calmly as he could.

"I'm fine," Eric muttered back. Suddenly, he remembered what he needed to do and looked over to Magnus with a stern expression. "Get Spartan Bennett in here," he ordered the AI in a serious tone.

"Got it, Commander," Magnus quickly replied back, brushing off his concern for the commander. Although, he wasn't going to forget his commander's strange behavior. He then disappeared into the digital reality to inform Spartan Bennett of her summons.

After a half hour of waiting in his office, Eric heard a knock on the side of his door. As he lifted his gaze up from his data pad, he saw Spartan Savanna Bennett standing at the threshold in her Spartan jumpsuit. Eric waved her to enter.

"C'mon in, Spartan," he said.

She slowly entered his office and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. She calmly kept her attention on her new commander who kept on looking back and forth at his data pad and her. She remained silent in her seat, patiently waiting for him to speak.

"So, I'd like to talk to you about a few things, Spartan," Eric stated firmly. "Firstly, about the reputation you quickly made for yourself in my division."

Despite hearing her commander's comment, Savanna remained in her stoic posture, but inside, she felt a large lump of stress and anxiety begin to ball up in the pit of her stomach. She nodded back to Eric and braced herself for the uncertain conversation at hand.

"I heard about what you did to Angel Gutierrez," he said flatly. "Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. He's quite a big soldier, and for you to quickly incapacitate him, especially for your size, that's pretty impressive," he commented with the faintest smile. Savanna vaguely smiled back at the compliment but quickly flushed her reaction away.

"Anyways, that little incident alone caused several Spartans to feel very uneasy around you, even your fellow teammates in your Fireteam. To add to that, your performance in the War Games were completely off the charts. Based on the leaderboards for each match, you basically carried your teammates to each win. Which is both good and bad. Good because your combat skills are stellar. Bad because the wins were all revolved around you. Both Morales and Porsche agreed that your combat style matches as a lone wolf," Eric concluded with a stern expression. "In this division, teamwork is more than just a priority. It's the difference between life and death. You understand?"

Savanna nodded. "Yes, Commander. I do understand," she replied back.

Eric clenched his cheek muscles and leaned back in his chair. "That'll remain to be seen, Spartan. During any mission, I do not want to see any Spartan's life be jeopardized because you decided to go and do your own thing. If that even happens once, I will not hesitate to discharge you from this division. Alright?"

"I understand, sir," she replied back stoically.

Her facial reaction was as stoic as a brick wall. Eric couldn't read through her thick poker face. "With those skills of yours," Eric began saying in a more calm tone. "You should be helping the other Spartans in anyway you can. Make a difference in this division. Train them in hand-to-hand, weapons, sparring, and whatever else. As of now, your peers are keeping their distance from you, and honestly, I don't blame them. What you need to do is to approach them, and not just those in your Fireteam. I need you to establish a relationship with all of them as a whole. I can imagine how much of a rally you would be on the battlefield. High morale between the troops wins battles. Now, starting tomorrow, I would like for you to _personally_ train with a few Spartans in whatever exercise you want. Understood?"

Savanna simply nodded. "I understand, Commander."

"Good. Hopefully that'll help the others warm up to you," Eric replied back, feeling somewhat relieved. "May I ask you a few questions, Spartan?" He asked her, shifting the gears.

"I guess," she replied, perplexed about what he was going to ask her.

"How old are you?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

"I'm twenty-one, sir," she simply replied.

Eric waved his hand after hearing 'sir' too many times. "At ease, Spartan. Let's keep the formalities out of this discussion."

"Alright, sorry about that," she answered, looking away from Eric.

"It's okay," Eric quickly replied. "Anyways, you're twenty-one years old and you're already considered a Spartan, which is very impressive and almost unheard of. My next question is, when did you join the Spartan-IV program? It typically takes Spartan cadet several years to complete training and most people that start are already in their twenties."

"Well," Savanna began saying. "I technically started my training when I was sixteen years old."

Eric nodded in acknowledgement. "Pretty young," he commented.

Savanna continued on. "Yeah, but I kind of started training when I was much younger. Roughly when I was nine years old."

Eric's eyes slightly widened at the surprising information. "Nine years old, eh? What made you start training that early?"

Savanna's expression hardened and hesitated to answer his question for a moment. "It's, well," she began saying with a dull expression. "It's a kind of a long story."

Sensing that this was a touchy topic for her, Eric eased the tense expression across his face and lifted a hand up. "Look, I don't want to make this seem like an interrogation. Just share with what you're comfortable with," he reassured her.

She slightly nodded and let out a small sigh. "Okay," she gasped. "I basically started because of my brother, well," she paused and briefly closed her eyes. "My _step_ -brother," she said as if she was unhappy about this person's title.

"I see," Eric commented in a calm tone.

"Yeah, like I said, it's a long story," she commented again. "I didn't have a very good home life. My dad was completely out of the picture, probably incarcerated somewhere. But my mom wasn't," she paused again for moment, briefly reflecting on her dramatizing past. "Let's just say that she wasn't very supportive to me and she was very impulsive. I was like dead weight to her, just a liability. But anyways, when I was very young, she met this guy named Dayvon who she fell head over heels for. He also wasn't exactly the best role model either, especially for a young little girl. Although, he had a son who was roughly in his late teens named Jackson. So when my mom and Dayvon moved in together, for whatever reason Jackson decided to watch over me and take care of me, even protecting me from both his dad and my mom. Then when I got a little older, he started to teach me how to fight with one of his older friends who was ODST. After a few years, when I was around twelve, I was able to physically defend myself from both my mom and my step-dad."

She then sighed and gently closed her eyes. "Then when I turned fourteen, Jackson joined the ODSTs. I tried writing him after he left, but he never replied back once. Eventually, I figured that he was killed in action, but I never actually found out what actually happened to him. So, I figured that sticking around with my mom and her disgusting boyfriend wasn't going to get me anymore and so I talked to that one ODST that trained me when I was young about joining the UNSC. He told me that he thought I still was too young to join. He then helped me change my name and my age so I could join the UNSC. Shortly after I joined the UNSC and went through bootcamp, I was approached by this one guy who said that he used to be a Spartan-III. I forget his name, but he had a really cool tattoo of a hand holding three arrows next to his left ear. Anyways, he said that my skills were similar to someone he once fought alongside with and then offered me a place in the Spartan-IV Program. Obviously, I accepted his offer. But the reason why I did is because I figured it would be easier to find out what happened to Jackson if I was a Spartan. So, that's my story, Commander," She concluded.

Eric took a moment to take in all of her story. He knew exactly who the person that offered her a place in the Spartan-IV Program and the person he mentioned to her. However, his curiosity was more focused on who this Jackson guy was. He grabbed his data pad and unlocked it.

"What was Jackson's last name?" Eric asked her flatly.

Savanna realized what he was about to do and her eyes instantly began to shine at his data pad. "Harper," she replied almost instantly in excitement.

Eric glanced over to the terminal. "Magnus, do a search in the UNSC database for an ODST personnel named Jackson Harper, and send it to my data pad," he ordered the AI.

"Got it," Magnus instantly replied. "Sent it to your pad."

Eric looked down at his data pad then opened up the file. "That was quick," he commented.

Magnus materialized into his holographic avatar. "Perks of being an AI," he replied with a smile.

"I guess so," Eric replied as he started to read over the file.

After a few moments, Eric tapped the picture icon and a photo of an African-rooted man popped up on the screen. Across his fierce facial features, he had short hair and green eyes. Eric turned the screen to show Savanna.

"Is this him?"

She took a long glance at the picture and a smile slowly began to form up across her face. "Yes, that's him," she said in excitement. "Where is he?" She quickly asked as she looked up at Eric.

Eric brought the screen back to him and searched for the trooper's current status. After scrolling down through the file, his expression hardened when he realized that the trooper's status was something that Savanna wasn't going to like to hear.

"MIA," Eric regretfully replied with a sorrowful expression.

"MIA?" She said in disbelief with a distressed expression across her face. "What do you mean he's MIA?"

Eric gently closed his eyes in grief. "He was last heard from at Draetheus V. He disappeared after the Covenant invaded the one research facility he was deployed at. He, a few other military personnel, as well as a few scientists were confirmed missing after Commander Palmer's Spartans retook the facility. The only thing they found was his IFF tag. That was the last they heard from him," Eric informed. He looked back up at Savanna who was visibly taking the information very hard.

"Is that all they have on him?" She asked with a worried expression. "Was there even a search and rescue team?"

Eric continued reading the file for a moment. "It says that there was a search and rescue, but they failed to locate him and the scientists. The case was left opened. They assume that the Covenant Remnant still has custody of him and the scientists, but that's a stretch in my opinion. The Covenant Remnant isn't as forgiving and merciful as they were before the Great War."

Savanna's expression went cold and she looked away from her commander. She remained quiet, but her body language was telling Eric that she was angry and confused. He searched for something to say to her, but couldn't come up with something profound and reassuring.

Suddenly, Savanna looked back over to her commander with a hardened expression. "May I be excused, Commander?" She asked sternly.

Eric sighed at the question but couldn't bring himself to say no. "Yes, you may be excused. What are you going to do, Spartan?"

As Savanna got up and began to leave his office, she stopped at the door's threshold. "Training grounds. I need to blow off some steam, Commander," she flatly replied, then quickly turned to leave the room before Eric could reply.

...

In the close quarters combat training facility, Tyler was practicing his sword skills with the energy sword that Iono 'Vandam gave him. Every swipe and slash were cutting through holograms of certain enemies. The training program's layout was wave oriented where a certain amount and difficulty of holograms were activated to attack him. Each wave grew more and more difficult for the Spartan in the training exercise.

After an hour of the sword training, Tyler decided that he wanted to take a breather and he walked out of the simulation room where he grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face then took a swig of water from his water bottle. He cleared his throat then glanced around the facility at the rest of the Spartans training at the other stations. He noticed Regendorf vigorously training in hand-to-hand combat with one of his new teammates in Foresight which made a small smile form across his face. Ty was fully aware of how committed the large Spartan was into honing his combat skills after getting his ass handed to him in the Breakout match against Fireteam Cerulean's finest member.

Tyler, on the other hand, did not care about honing his combat skills in order to compete against the prodigal Spartan. That was a lost cause in his opinion because he knew that she was born to be a true Spartan and her skills were not a match to anyone in the entire division. In a practical stance, he figured that his duty to this division was to make a difference with the skills that were given to him. Of course he can certainly hone them, but only with the mentality of bettering himself rather than attempting to beat the best. He was fully aware of his own abilities. Drying his face with his towel again then throwing it down onto the bench, he turned around to walk back into the sword training station where he instinctively stopped himself after realizing someone standing in front of him.

"Whoa," he nearly shouted in surprised as he identified the individual that was standing in front of him. His eyes then went wide when he realized that this individual was Savanna. "Oh, hey there," he sheepishly greeted with a mildly frightened expression across his face. "Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you."

Savanna merely shrugged, keeping a serious expression across her face. "It's alright," she replied as she turned towards the sword training station.

Tyler gasped for breath after she turned away from him, attempting to slow his racing heart rate. He wasn't so sure how she managed to sneak up on him so suddenly and he didn't exactly like it, but there was no sense in getting upset about it. And that's totally not because she can kick his ass or anything. So, he elected to remain civil with her.

"Is there something I can do for you?" He politely asked her.

"Well," she began saying. "I need a sparring mate. Thought I could use some sword training," she said as she picked up a dummy sword.

"Oh," Tyler merely replied, clearly taken aback by the offer. Any effort he had in calming his blood pressure was completely in vain. His heart began to pump exponentially faster. "Well, I guess I can spar with you," he replied, not believing that he just accepted her offer. "I don't think that I will be as much use to you, but I'll do my best."

Savanna looked over to him and formed a half smile. "This isn't for just me, you know," she commented. "Besides, I may pick up on some of your techniques along the way."

"Oh, alright then," he simply replied back.

She picked up another dummy sword and tossed it to him. "Forgive me, I'm terrible with names. What was yours again?"

"Tyler Eilen. You can just call me Tyler or Ty. Doesn't matter to me," he replied as he set his energy sword hilt onto the bench.

"Alright, Tyler. I'm-"

"Savanna Bennett," Tyler quickly filled in. "Everyone in the division knows who you are," he said with a smile.

"Right," she simply replied. "Well, want to get started now?"

"I mean, I guess so," he sheepishly replied as he slowly began to walk to the room's entrance.

The two Spartans walked into the center of the arena and faced each other with their dummy swords gripped in their hands, then they both got into a battle stance. After a moment of observing each other's stance, Savanna swiftly engaged Tyler in the duel.


	13. Operation Paperweight Part 1

**Date: March 13th, 2559**

 **Location: Kepler 186F, Jericho Region, Outpost Ottawa**

Eric found himself reviewing further into the mission FLEETCOM and ONI tasked his division with on Diosac: Operation Paperweight. This one was going to be a stretch. With Fireteam Ghost currently deployed on this mission along with an elite strike team that the Arbiter agreed to provide, all that Eric could do now was wait. However, he had a very strange feeling about this op. His senses kept on screaming to him that he just sent his Spartans to one of the most hostile environments in the galaxy. Needless to say, the brutes were still not overly fond of humanity after the events of the Great War. If they manage to encounter his team, they will undoubtedly show no mercy.

It was his job now to make sure that his team had backup. Lasky did mention to Eric a day ago that he was sending a battle group of ships to Kepler for assistance. Eric impatiently waited for a follow up from the Rear Admiral.

"Commander, I'm receiving a transmission from Admiral Lasky. Want me to patch you through?" Magnus suddenly announced himself in the hologram next to Eric's desk.

 _Right on cue,_ Eric mused to himself as he rose to his feet. "Sure, Magnus," he flatly replied. He positioned himself in front of the monitor and cleared his throat.

The monitor opened a live feed of Admiral Lasky who was in his UNSC Officer uniform. Eric noted that Lasky was in a ship's bridge, standing around a briefing table with Commander Palmer and his AI, Roland, who were gleaming into a holographic map of a planet. Lasky looked up from the briefing table and greeted Eric with a smirk. The other two followed suite and focused their attention on Eric.

"Good afternoon, Commander," Lasky announced himself.

Eric gave them all a greeted nod. "Admiral, Commander, Roland."

"Long time no see, Spartan," Roland said with a smile.

"Good to see you again, Roland," Eric acknowledged the AI. He gave Palmer a respectful bow and set the formalities aside. "So Admiral, what's the word?"

"I have some good news. We're making a jump to Kepler with a pretty decent sized battle group," Lasky replies.

"Oh really? That's good to hear," Eric replied with sense of relief. "How big is the group?"

"Eight ships," Roland informed. "Four cruisers, three destroyers, and a Punic-class supercarrier, which we are currently stationed aboard. It's called the _Union of Stride_."

"Never heard of it. I assume that's a temporary placement," Eric commented.

"Obviously. We could definitely do much better than this, as.." Roland sarcastically remarked before he was abruptly cut off.

"Roland," Lasky briskly interrupted his AI, annoyed and concern what he might let slip. After a sharp reprimanding glance at Roland, he shook his head and shrugged. "Anyways, she's no Infinity," Lasky commented as he glanced around the ship's bridge. "But she will do just fine. At least until the _Eternity_ is finished."

"The _Eternity_?" Eric asked in bewilderment.

"It was originally the _Infinity's_ sister ship, but it was never actually completed. But, now since the Infinity is gone, the UNSC has been pushing to get the Eternity fully operational. It should be completed within six to eight months," Lasky informed. "Anyways, that's not all the good news we have for you, Commander," he said with a smile, then looked over to Sarah Palmer.

She straightened up her posture and directed her attention back to Eric. "Seems as though you've won the lottery, Commander," she said as if she were still Eric's superior, which didn't bother Eric at all since he still viewed her as his veteran superior. "I brought a division of Spartans along for the ride."

A strong sense of security began to fill Eric's stomach. "Oh wow," Eric replied in surprise. "Is Fireteam Majestic in your division?" He asked in hope to see his old rival Spartan team.

"Yes they are," Palmer said flatly. "With Spartan Thorne in charge of the Fireteam."

"Thorne's their leader now? What happened to DeMarco?"

His simple question caused an awkward tension between the two officers. Palmer gave Lasky a confused expression in reaction to his question. Lasky first looked surprised, then his expression quickly turned into a mixture of grief and guilt. He turned to his friend and slowly shook his head. Palmer clenched her cheeks and let in a sharp inhale, then looked back to Eric. "DeMarco was killed in action a month after Wildfire in a mission on Ealen IV," she informed as straight as she could.

Eric gently bowed his head after hearing the grim news. Another one of his friends gone. This was continuing to be a recurring theme in his life. "I see," was all he could say. The other three on the other end of the monitor remained silent for a moment.

"Although," Palmer continued on, breaking the silence. "One of my teams will definitely prove to be a huge asset to your division. And I'll even be nice enough to hand them over to your command, but just for this operation," she commented with a faint smile.

"Okay. What team is that?" Eric asked.

"Blue Team," she replied with a smirk.

Her statement was enough to send repeated jolts of electricity down Eric's spine. "Blue Team? You're having The Master Chief assist my division in this op?"

"Correct. I figured that your Spartans needed some serious inspiration from the most valuable military assets in the UNSC," she replied.

Eric laughed at her comment. "Serious inspiration, eh? That couldn't be more of an understatement," he commented, attempting to keep his excitement suppressed.

"Touché," Palmer replied.

"Anyways, we're jumping to Kepler momentarily, Commander," Lasky announced. "Is there anything you could tell me about the team that was deployed on Doisac?"

"Fireteam Ghost and the Arbiter's elite strike team departed to Doisac this morning. They will be off the grid for a while. I ordered them to gather intelligence to their own discretion. They may be gone for a week at most. If we don't hear from after that, then I'll have to issue a full scale invasion on Doisac," Eric informed.

Lasky visibly didn't agree with that plan. "A full scale invasion on Doisac? You mean you're going to declare war on the brutes if your team doesn't contact us back? Did you get clearance for this?"

"Yes, sir. I did. FLEETCOM and ONI authorized an act of aggression if my team goes MIA," Eric replied without hesitation.

"And we would be the instigating side in this fight," Lasky replied. "That doesn't seem right to me."

Palmer lowered her eyebrows to the Admiral. "Those dumb apes are already classified as hostiles, Admiral. What difference does it make?"

Lasky turned his attention back to his Spartan friend. He briefly pondered the idea of retorting back, but stopped himself and glanced back to Eric's hologram with a frustrated expression. "We'll discuss this more in private, Spartans," he finally said. "See you soon, Commander Bame."

"Until then, Admiral," Eric simply replied.

The monitor feed closed down and Eric glanced over to Magnus at his hologram station. "What do you think, Magnus?" He asked with a sense of bewilderment across his face.

Magnus gave him an expression of carelessness and shrugged. "Meh, you don't want to know what I think, Commander."

Eric rolled his eyes at the AI innuendo. "Yeah, I take that back. I'm not one for ethnic or racial cleansing," he remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

The AI laughed at the surprising comment from Eric. "Well, it's not even that. If our team gets caught and we're forced to act in aggression, we are going to made out to be the bad guys. That may not really," he paused for a moment, "help our cause here."

Eric walked to his desk and picked up his helmet. "No argument here, Magnus. We'll see what Lasky has to say about this. I can already tell that it's going to be a hissy fit between both him and Palmer."

"That'll be fun to watch," Magnus mused.

"Not for me." Eric placed his helmet onto his head and began to walk out of his office. "Make sure Lasky and his fleet are given the proper entry clearance for orbit."

"Will do, sir."

…

"I swear, my arms are going to fall off," Tyler muttered as he dropped his sword hilt and rested his hands on his knees.

"Oh come on, it's only been three days. Are you really going to say that in you're next deployment?" Savanna said in amusement as she walked back into position.

Tyler rolled his eyes at her jab but couldn't get enough air to make a retort. After a minute of catching her breath, he reached down and picked up his sword hilt. After taking another moment to reposition himself, he shrugged at her comment. "Yeah, you're right," he simply replied. "You know we can be deployed at any moment, right?"

"Obviously," Savanna said as she glanced down at her dark grey Spartan Recruit variant helmet. "I can't imagine why Porsche ordered us to remain on deployment standby for the next week."

Tyler snorted at her sarcasm and looked outside of the close quarters training station. Suddenly, something completely unexpected caught his full attention. His shocked reaction also caught Savanna's attention and she looked over to what he was looking at. The sight before her also caught her off guard.

"What in God's name..?" Tyler muttered in astonishment.

"Is that..?" Savanna merely whispered.

Outside their training station were several other Spartans glancing around at the training stations. One of them, who stood several inches taller than the others around him, was wearing a very familiar dark green armor set. To many, that green armor was the symbol of humanity's perseverance.

"That's.." Tyler couldn't believe what he was seeing.

" _The Master Chief_ ," Savanna finished his sentence. " _And_ Blue Team," she added as she finally recognized the other notable Spartans around him.

Both Spartans glanced at each other for a moment in hesitation, then looked back at the legendary Spartan and the rest of Blue Team around him.

"What're they doing here?" Tyler asked in confusion.

"Let's go see for ourselves," Savanna said as she began walking out of the training station.

Her comment sent chills down Tyler's spine, causing him to have a minor panic attack. Without hesitation, he attempted to stop his friend in her tracks. "No, no, no," he frantically pleaded. "That's the mother fucking _Master Chief_ and you're just going to walk up to the person that single handedly saved our asses from extinction, _many_ times, and just kinda ask him what the heck he's doing here?"

Tyler's distressed outburst of fear was more than a little humorous to Savanna and she giggled. She shook her head at his panicked posture and rested her hands on her hips. After a brief moment of silence, she snorted. "Yes. I am," she nonchalantly replied back. "What, are you scared of him?"

"You bet your ass I'm afraid of him! He can beat my ass in a fight any day of the week _after_ he destroys _another_ entire Covenant armada!" He shouted back without hesitation.

Savanna simply laughed at his humorously panicked behavior and she waved it off. "You're too much, Eilen. You know, technically speaking, he's only a Fireteam Leader. Which makes him your equal in rank," she told him in a matter-of-fact tone.

Tyler took a long moment to ponder her witty retort. He glanced at Blue Team, then back at Savanna. After a long moment of pondering, he took a deep breath and shook his head in defeat. "Ugh," he groaned in anguish. "Okay, fine. But I'm not starting the conversation," he practically ordered her with a finger pointed at her.

She raised both her hands. "Alright, fine. Leave it to the lower ranking Spartan to talk to The Master Chief," she sarcastically remarked.

"Damn right," Tyler muttered.

The two left the station and began approaching Blue Team. Tyler remained close behind Savanna as they both walked to the legendary team. All of the members of Blue Team turned their attentions to the two Spartan-IV's approaching. When the two finally came into talking distance, Savanna cleared her throat to greet them.

"Master Chief, Blue Team," she firmly greeted, which impressed Tyler on many levels. He wouldn't even be able to say _hi_ in a firm tone to them. "Spartan Savanna Bennett of Fireteam Cerulean. What brings you all to Outpost Ottawa?"

Master Chief gave her a firm disciplined look across his golden Mark VI visor. "Admiral Lasky ordered us to assist Project Omega in your next mission," he flatly replied in his low toned trademarked voice.

Savanna nodded in surprise and acknowledgment. "Really? Well, it's an honor to have you and your team with us."

Master Chief remained silent after hearing her compliment. The Spartan to his right, who had the number 104 written over the top left hand part of his blue breastplate, answered for him. "Thanks, Spartan Bennett. Glad to be a part of the project. We've been wondering what it was all about."

"Well, I wouldn't be the person to ask. I haven't been deployed yet since I've been here. I'd ask him if you wanted to know more," she said nudging toward Tyler who was taken completely off guard and left in awe like a deer in headlights.

His mind rushed through his unresponsive brain for a follow-up sentence until panic forced him to choose an easy reply. "Yep, that would be me," he sheepishly replied. It was blatantly obvious to each of the Spartans that he was currently having a minor heart attack. Savanna fought the urge to burst out laughing, but couldn't suppress a giggle. The other four Spartans disregarded the sudden awkward reply, but waited patiently for a follow up comment.

After the awkward moment of silence, the same Spartan, Frederic, saw the need to break the awkwardness. "Alright," he simply said. "And you are..?"

Tyler cleared his throat and quickly took a deep breath, attempting to compose the uncontrollable vibration feeling in his veins. "I'm Spartan Tyler Eilen, the leader of Fireteam Aries. I've been with the project since it started," he stated more firmly this time, to his surprise.

Fred acknowledged his introduction with a simple nod. "So, I'm guessing you were deployed on the mission on Sanghelios," he mentioned.

"Affirmative. What do you know about the op?" Tyler figured he'd ask them.

The four members of Blue gave each other brief glances, then looked back to Tyler.

"Not much," Master Chief replied flatly.

"ONI isn't very vocal about Project Omega," Kelly-087 followed up. "All we really know is that this project was constructed after the result of Operation Wildfire and to search for an organization called the _Meta Division_. The files had a lot of black ink in them."

Tyler was somewhat surprised about Blue Team's lack of information about Project Omega. He expected it from others but he figured that Blue Team would have more clearance with certain intel. Obviously, that appeared to not be the case.

"Well, I don't know how much I would be allowed to share with you guys," Tyler said, a little unsure about his credentials.

"If it means that you'd get court martialed, then don't worry about it," Fred replied.

Tyler brought his hand up a bit. "Oh no, I don't think I'll get court martialed. I'd rather have you guys know your foes as opposed to going against an unknown enemy."

Fred glanced to Master Chief. "Wouldn't be our first time," he grimly replied. Master Chief sharply turned to Fred, but remained silent. Fred caught his sharp stare and gently bowed his head in grief. The other two Spartans of Blue Team were acting somewhat similar about the strange body language from their leader.

Despite his curiosity, Tyler decided to act like he did not notice the gesture, thinking it wasn't his place to pry about their personal business. "I can imagine," he said trying to continue the conversation. He glanced up at the Master Chief. "Anyways, there are a few things I think I can share, but it's hard to explain. So, I'll just start at the top. Have you guys heard of Xenomorphs or Yautja, or anything like that?"

Chief looked to Kelly for an answer, who began to speak. "I've seen the files about the Xenomorphs. Exoskeleton parasitic organisms with acidic blood. They apparently operate like a bee hive, with a queen at the top of the hierarchy. One of the files had a report from Commander Bame himself about an encounter he and his old Fireteam had with a queen aboard the Infinity. He mentioned that the organism was twenty to twenty-five feet tall, dwarfing the others, with a large crest-shaped head, and a spear-like tail. He and his team managed to kill it, but lost one of his Spartans during the fight."

Tyler was astonished by the story. "Bame killed a _queen_? With only his Fireteam? Damn, that's insane!"

He noticed the strange expressions on each of their faces after he had his enthusiastic comment. The following silence created an awkward aura between them, so he decided to continue on rambling.

"Well, we lost two of our Spartans in our first op against a Praetorian, and that was a smaller bug than a queen. Took several fireteams to bring it down."

"A Praetorian?" Kelly asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah it's basically a smaller queen, kind of like a new queen from an ant colony I guess, minus the wings, of course. It looks about the same, with some slight differences."

"So, you have encountered these Xenomorphs in this project?" Kelly asked.

Tyler nodded. "Yes ma'am, in both of the ops we've been in. They are some pretty scary creatures. But they aren't the main reason why this project was formed."

"I'm guessing that had to do with the Meta Division, right?" Kelly followed up.

Tyler briefly mused the thought of being interrogated by this Spartan with her follow up to each question. "Yes, ma'am. That was our primary target. We were originally supposed to just search and quell this rogue organization that we initially thought were a secret branch of the Insurrectionist, but... that's not really the case anymore. At least not after our mission on Sanghelios."

"What did you find out?"

"Well," Tyler inhaled as he looked back to Savanna who was just as intrigued as Blue Team. "That the Meta Division is part of something much much larger. I was part of a small team, both Sangheili and human, that infiltrated a secret base on this random island on Sanghelios. Commander Bame personally led the team in there where we confronted by a… _tamed_ Xenomorph, I guess you could say. Then the leader of the Meta Division decided to give us a tour of his facility, which was nothing less of fubar. Then he had the audacity to try and convince us to join his cause."

The members of Blue Team all gave each other wary glances until Kelly spoke again. "What's the leader's name?"

"Well, that guy goes by the codename Blackwater," Tyler said as he rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the name. "Although, his division is part of a huge organization called the 'Interstellar Unified Empire', and their leader is named _Hades,"_ he said as he italicized with his hands.

"What's with the weird aliases?" Fred asked in a flat tone.

"Couldn't tell ya, sir. It's one of the rolling jokes in the project right now. Also, I don't know who would name their government an empire nowadays. Seems pretty childish, if you ask me," Tyler replied. "Anyways, that's about as much as I know. I don't really remember the exact details of what happened. I was more concerned about the Xenomorph guiding us through the tour. I would ask Bame for more details."

"Understood, Spartan," Kelly replied with a nod. "Thanks for filling us in."

Tyler couldn't help but smile at how well defined and composed he was in the conversation. He was constantly paranoid that his grammar was going to slip up in front of the legendary Spartan team. Shaking the proud thought away, he decided to ask Blue Team something else. "So, what are you guys looking to do in here?"

"Lasky asked us to train with Omega's fireteams personally. Starting with Breakout simulations," the Master Chief repeated.

"Some Breakout matches, eh?" Savanna confirmed with an excited tone. "Well, the rest of my team isn't in here, but I'm sure we could get a pickup match going with a few of the other Spartans. You down for it, Ty?" She suddenly asked him.

Her simple question made his heart drop. A match _against_ Blue Team? "Wait, are you serious?" Tyler asked in awe.

"Yeah, should be interesting!" Savanna replied. His stunned posture told her otherwise, and she huffed. "Oh, c'mon Eilen. When can anyone say that they've survived a match against Blue Team?"

The question made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but he couldn't muster up the courage to say no. Blue Team remained silent, waiting patiently for a response. "Alright," he finally agreed in groaning manner.

"Alright, sounds great! Now all we need are two more volunteers," she said as she glanced around the facility at the other Spartans, who were fully aware of Blue Team's presence. Her focus fell on two Spartans who were gazing at them from one of the training station. She leaned over to Tyler and subtly pointed at the two Spartans. "What are their names?"

Tyler looked over at the two Spartans and studied their armor sets. "The big one with the metal arm is Regendorf, and… the other one," he paused as he observed the Recruit armor on the other Spartan. "I have no idea. Probably one of his teammates."

Immediately, Savanna waved at the two Spartans. "Regendorf. C'mon over here. And bring your friend!" She cried out to them.

Regendorf subtly cocked his head at her order. The other Spartan merely nudged him to go over to them to see what was going on. Regendorf gave his teammate a side glance and then decided to come over to the group of Spartans with his teammate beside him.

"Is there something you need?" Regendorf said as he gave Blue Team a brief glance. Regendorf seemed unamused by the sight of the team, whereas the other Spartan was left in awe at the sight of the Master Chief.

"We're trying to get a team to face against Blue Team in a Breakout match. We need two more teammates, you two down?" Savanna asked the two Spartans.

"I'm down," Regendorf replied without hesitation, seemingly unafraid.

"Good, and you?" She asked the other Spartan.

"Well, I guess so," he sheepishly said. "I don't have anything else to do."

"Nice, we got a team of four. What were your names again?" Savanna asked again.

"Spartan James Regendorf of Fireteam Foresight," Regendorf replied.

"Spartan Gavin Vincent of Fireteam Foresight, ma'am," the other Spartan replied.

"Alright, let's get a match going," She said as she looked over to Blue Team, who seemed extremely unamused by the random choice of teammates.

Master Chief did not seem all that impressed by the informal and unorthodox display of training from the Spartans of Project Omega. The Spartans he knew and grew up with were formidable and very well disciplined. These Spartan-IV's, on the other hand, seemed nothing more than ODST troopers with Spartan armor. However, it wasn't his place to say who was worthy of being a Spartan. His job here was to help train the Spartans of Project Omega.

He nodded at Spartan Bennett's proposal and the eight Spartans made their way to the simulation station. Each of the Spartans hooked up to their designated chair where their consciousnesses began uploading into the Breakout Arena.

…

The command station at Ottawa almost proved to be more hostile than the training facility. In there, Lasky, Palmer, and Eric were in a loud verbal debate about the contingency plan if things were to go wrong for Operation Paperweight. Actually, the argument was more in between Palmer and Lasky. Eric, on the other hand, was more open to any other ideas. He did not personally agree with the current contingency plan but wouldn't hesitate to carry it out if the op deadpans. His Spartans' lives were worth much more to him than all the Jiralhanae on Doisac.

The argument at this point was basically going in circles, and it was beginning to really irritate Eric. Lasky was adamant on not invading the planet since it would spark another war with the Jiralhanae. That would mean that the UNSC would be up against them and the Empire at the same time. In addition, it might even spark an alliance between the two forces. For all they know, the Jiralhanae might already be a part of the Empire.

On the flip side of the argument, Palmer was convinced that the brutes were already viewed as a hostile force. Also, their military force would not be much of a concern to the UNSC after the result of the Human-Covenant War. At least in her eyes they weren't. They were a ruthless and animalistic race of apes that had no regard for human life. The atrocities they made during the war should not go unpunished. Regardless of all her personal thoughts, it was a direct order from both FLEETCOM and ONI.

After what seemed to be an eternity to Eric, the argument between the two finally began to die down. Palmer clenched her cheek muscles in frustration and walked over to the window that viewed out to the main complex. Lasky subtly shook his head then glanced over to Eric whose expression was stern.

"You've been quiet, Eric," Lasky commented.

Eric shrugged in reply. "Well, what could I say? I haven't been in the leadership position as long as either of you."

"That's not much of an excuse, Commander," Lasky replied with an annoyed expression. "What is your take?"

"Well," Eric said as he took a moment to ponder the question. "I don't think we should worry about it as much. I have faith in Fireteam Ghost. All four of those Spartans have exceptional experience in reconnaissance. Both Spartan Macy and Black are both former Force Recon marines. They can handle themselves," Eric replied. "And with the Sangheili team alongside them, I think it's safe to say that they won't get caught."

Lasky took a deep breath then looked over to Palmer who was still standing next to the window with her arms crossed. "I hope you're right, Commander."

"Magnus is constantly keeping track of their coms channel. If anything comes up, we'll know," Eric assured the two. "Until then, we need to make sure that the troops are prepared and ready for deployment."

…

 **Date: March 13th, 2559**

 **Location: Doisac, Homeworld of the Jiralhanae**

 **Event: Operation Paperweight**

The joint human-Sangheili reconnaissance task force were all cloaked in active camouflage on the side of a huge cliff which overlooked a war-torn city that spanned around roughly a five mile diameter. It was the first notable location the team came across when they dropped to the planet. What they found was a crude Jiralhanae military force with a decorated chieftain as the assumed leader.

Spartan Humble and one of the elite majors were both surveying two particular locations in the city through their rifle's scope. On the left part of the city, the area that Humble focused on, there an outpost that had a large concentration of Brute warriors with primitive armor and weaponry. They seemed on edge and ready for a fight, judging on their attention that was directed just west of the city. As a side note, they were critically under equipped. A few of their turrets looked like they were a crude makeshift collection of Type-25 Spiker Carbines that were connected to a central trigger mechanism and each of the spikers were belt-fed by a few drums of ammunition. The rest of the brutes in the infantry unit were wielding brute shots, spikers, and unidentifiable weaponry.

On the right side of the city, the elite major spotted what seemed to be the main stronghold for the brutes. The chieftain seemed restless and visibly concerned about something. He was constantly ordering around his subordinates to do certain tasks. The elite couldn't make anything out of it. One thing that he did notice was that there were female Jiralhanae in mists or the pandamonium. They were also assisting the chieftain and his lieutenants with any tasks they could carry out. Their appearance was much smaller than their male counterpart. They did not have as much hair, were shorter, and leaner. They did have an obvious feminine look in their facial features and posture, but nonetheless, they still looked like a formidable opponent.

"What the heck is going on over there?" Spartan Alexander Macy whispered to the rest of his team.

"I don't know. They look like they are waiting for an attack," Humble replied.

"The chieftain appears to be restless," the elite major added.

"Strange," Macy hummed in bewilderment. "What do you think, Ghost?" He asked Spartan Black who was crouched next to Humble with his attention in the direction of the chieftain.

"Well," he began to say quietly. "It's easy to say that they are waiting for a fight. Why don't we just wait and see? What's your take?" He asked as he glanced over to the Sangheili Spec Ops Officer.

"That would be wise of us to do so," the Sangheili officer agreed. "We shall see what yearned them to fortify a defense position."

"Might as well," Black commented as he looked back out towards the city.

"Ten bucks says it's the Empire," Mangold muttered with a smirk.

Macy chuckled at his comment. "Yeah of course, Mango."

A few hours passed by and yet nothing has happened. The Spartans were left twiddling their thumbs, except for Humble who was still peering through his sniper scope. To him, it was like watching a documentary about Jiralhanae culture, which fascinated him. As for the three other Sangheili, they were also throwing pebbles around to pass the time, except for the officer who stood next to Black with his arms crossed.

Macy took the time to observe how the Sangheili acted in idle situations like this. The fact that the two Sangheili subordinates were tossing stones at random objects on the ground was funny to Macy. Then the sight of both his Fireteam Leader and the Sangheili Officer standing next to each other with their arms crossed made him smile more. Humans and elites were much more similar than he initially thought. If not for the Covenant and the Prophets, the Sangheili and Humanity could very well have been close allies. Macy wondered how the Sangheili viewed Humanity before the Prophets ordered their genocide.

Suddenly, his thoughts were broken after a deafening report of thunder that came from the western part of the city. Instinctively, each member of the team dropped down for cover.

"What was that?" Mangold cried out.

Humble lifted his head and focused his attention on the western sector of the city. Several unidentified aircraft appeared in the airspace around a kilometer away from the brute outpost.

"I don't know. Several ships that I've never seen before are around a klick away from the city. Black, have you seen anything like those ships before?" He asked his Fireteam Leader.

Black zoomed his HUD towards one of the dropships and began to record the feed. The strange design of the ships were nothing like he's ever seen. They looked somewhat similar to Forerunner architecture, but it also had many similarities to human and Covenant architecture. Either way, it was something Black has never seen before.

"Never seen anything like that before." He slightly turned his head to the Spec Ops Officer. "Have you seen anything like this?"

The elite took a long glance and huffed. "No, I have not. However, they appear to be similar to the Forerunner ships that I have seen in a few missions in the past, but I am certain that they are not Forerunner origin."

"That's great to hear," Mangold grimly commented. "I guarantee that those are Empire ships."

Macy sighed and shook his head at the direct accusation. "Alright, quit it with the Empire. We don't know for sure, Mango."

Mangold rose his hands and shrugged. "Mark my words," he replied.

The two snipers directed their attention back to the brute outpost closest to the strange aircraft. The brutes down there were scurrying to their designated battle stations. The brutes on the turrets quickly turned their sights to the aircraft, then proceeded to open fire waves of glowing red munitions at them.

"Well, this is completely unexpected," Humble commented in surprise.

"Indeed," Black replied as he began recording the sight before him. "Stay frosty, boys. Let's see what happens."

The team watched diligently as the beginning of the battle raged. The mass amounts of bullets from the turrets did not seem to phase the dropships. The glowing red rounds ricocheted off the ships due to their shields. The ships began to descend to the ground where they began to unload ground troops down a gravity lift from the center, much like a phantom or liche.

Black focused his sight on the ground troops. He was surprised to see that these troops were, without any doubt in his mind, human.

"They're human," Black grimly stated.

"What did I tell ya?" Mangold commented to the group, mainly looking at Macy who subtly shook his head back at him.

The human troops were wearing a dark bluish armor with bright lights around the creases around the joint areas of the armor. Their helmets covered their entire heads and had two prominent eye holes at the front. The appearance of the helmets reminded Black of the Locus variant but with the eye holes and with a slightly smoother design.

As for their weaponry, they seemed to be more assorted rather than consistent. Some were very recognizable, having a very human-like design much like their BR85HB and many MA5 variant assault rifles. Then the other weapons were much more technologically advanced. They appeared to be very similar to Promethean weaponry, but lacked the Forerunner architecture.

The human invaders began to return fire and charge for the outpost. The brutes' weapons were not very effective against the invader's combat skins or their energy shield systems. With that, the invaders took full advantage of their combat technological superiority to make a single push against the brutes' defenses. After they broke through the main defense line, it was nothing less than a slaughterhouse. Despite the brutes making every effort to retreat, the invaders were mowing the apes down at ease until they began to surrender. The surviving brutes were being pinned down and bound to a large chain.

After they seized the outpost, the human invaders swiftly pushed towards the inner part of the city. They continued taking several brutes captive, along with arbitrarily and indiscriminately killing them. The rapid pace of the invading human force, as well as their incredible display of troop coordination, would impress any UNSC commander.

It wasn't long until they reached the chieftain's stronghold, where they made short work of his militia. The chieftain stood his ground with his personal gravity hammer and six of his trusted lieutenants behind him. He roared at the human invaders and lifted his hammer in a jeering gesture, but the invaders held their position and kept the chieftain surrounded.

"Ghost, catch the suit," Humble suddenly whispered. "He's just entering the stronghold. And also," he paused for a moment. "What the..?" He muttered in a surprised tone.

Black turned his HUD towards the stronghold's entrance and continued recording what he was seeing, but what he saw next to the man in the suit shocked him. "Is that a..?"

"That's a Xenomorph," Humble answered in a mere whisper. The comment caught everyone's attention.

"I've never seen a Xenomorph like that," Black stated.

The serpent was no doubt a Xenomorph. However, it was much larger and bulkier than a typical Xeno. It's visual appearance was very much like a Sangheili strain Xenomorph, but it was slightly larger and had different aspects. It had long dreadlocks on the rear part of its head. It also had more profound mandibles that had a sharp claw at the end of each of them which surrounded its mouth, unlike the Sangheili Xenos who had only the mandibles and an inner jaw. The Xenomorph also had a more defined body tone with long bulky arms and a long spear-like tail.

Besides its appearance, the thing that surprised the team was that it had no physical augmentations applied anywhere on its body. It was walking alongside the suit on its own will. Either that, or it was very well tamed. The soldiers around the suit didn't seem very wary about the Xenomorph's presence.

As for the suit, he was a Caucasian descendant person that had short black hair. However, it was obvious to Black that his physique was also altered in his favor. Most likely making him stronger than the average human.

The man casually strolled into the outpost with the Xenomorph amongst the pandemonium with a smug look across his face and his hands behind his back. He carelessly watched as his troops rounded up the remaining Jiralhanae into groups that were chained together. The chieftain locked eyes with the man and growled.

"Mango, I need ears on them, ASAP," Black ordered him.

Mangold quickly activated his long range acoustic device and pointed it in the direction of the stronghold. "Got it," he whispered.

"Good. Send me the feed," Black ordered him. Mangold quickly sent the feed's frequency to Black's HUD. The first thing Black heard were growls and yells from the surrounding Jiralhanae. "Concentrate it on the suit and the chieftain as best you can, and slightly decrease the amplitude." The noises in his HUD went a little quieter and phased out the yelling and roaring from the surrounding Jiralhanae, then focused in on the suit and the chieftain to the point where Black could clearly hear the chieftain's huffing and growling. "Right there, Mango. Keep it like that," he said to him.

The suit approached the chieftain with a smug expression and cleared his throat. He laughed at the brute and casually looked around the rounded up brute prisoners. "Oh Tyrvaus, what am I going to do with you?"

The chieftain only growled in reply.

"You just had to sacrifice so many of your kin's lives for a petty defense. That's just cold," he patronizingly told the chieftain. "You should have just let us roll in and do our business."

Tyrvaus sneered at the man. "I will not stand for this, you foul human! My brothers and sisters are not your slaves to claim!"

"They are to me," the man cynically replied. "You and your people are nothing more than a mindless race of monkeys. The fact that the San Shy'uum did choose your species over the Sangheili is absurd. The Covenant lost the war because of your species' stupidity. That's just embarrassing on so many levels."

"How dare you insult us, Kronos! I shall kill you for this!" Tyrvaus roared in rage.

The chieftain charged after the man with zeal and his gravity hammer raised up high. The man, who Tyrvaus called _Kronos_ , laughed at the chieftain's aggression and snapped his fingers at the chieftain. Immediately, the Xenomorph pounced after the brute with a loud screech that was sharply amplified in Black's HUD.

The chieftain was taken off guard by the sudden pounce, but took the split second before the Xenomorph reached him to swing his gravity hammer. The Xeno managed to catch the hammer's hilt in mid air and used its momentum to swing around the chieftain then land on its feet. The chieftain snarled at the serpent, which then caused the serpent to roar and open its massive image to the brute. The brute grunted as he lunged for the serpent, but the serpent dodged the affected area from the gravity hammer, then swiftly swiped the hammer out of the chieftain's hands.

Before the chieftain could react, the serpent pounced at the ape, punishing him down to ground and pinning him with each appendage. The Xenomorph then positioned the end of its spear-like tail directly over the brute's head. The brute struggled to break free from the serpent's grapple but the serpent's grip was too tight and it was much heavier than the brute. The serpent hissed over the brute where it showed its inner jaw with drool oozing down onto the brute's face.

Kronos casually walked up to the chieftain and knelt over the defeated ape with a smug smile across his face. "What a shame, Tyrvaus. You would have been a great labor worker," he muttered. The brute growled at the man as he tried to get himself out of the grapple. Kronos lightly shrugged and looked up at the Xenomorph. "He's no longer a use to us. Dispose of him."

With that, he turned away from the chieftain and looked back to his soldiers. He gave them a hand signals and began to walk out of the stronghold. At that very second, the soldiers opened fire on the remaining Jiralhanae and began to gather the rest of the prisoners. The Xenomorph opened its mandibles, revealing its inner jaw which was slowly biting in front of the chieftain's face, then instantly plunged directly through the brute's skull, creating a purple bloody mess. The Xenomorph then let go of the brute's lifeless body and returned to Kronos's side.

"This," Black began to say in astonishment. "This is not what I was expecting to see."

Macy snorted at the obvious comment. "Clearly. Commander should definitely know about this."

Black turned to his teammate and pondered the question for a moment. "This changes everything. Commander needs to know about this ASAP."

"What are you saying, Ghost?" Macy asked as he turned his attention to his leader.

"Mango," he called. "Get 440 on station. We need to send them the feed. Have them forward it to Commander Bame."

The rest of the Spartans and elites turned their attention to Black with confused expressions. "We're not going to gather any more intel?"

Black shook his head. "This is all the intel we need. This _Kronos_ guy needs to be exposed."

"Alright, I'll patch into 440 and send them the feed."

…

"Sir," Magnus suddenly announced, cutting off the argument between the three high ranking officers. "I'm getting a transmission from pelican 440."

All three of them gave each other surprised expressions. "They aren't in trouble, are they?" Lasky eagerly asked the AI.

Magnus shook his head. "No, sir. Seems like they sent us a video recording. Shall I pull it up on the monitor?"

Eric nodded at his AI. "Absolutely," he replied in a concerned tone.

On cue, the video recording popped up on their monitor. The first two things the three officials noticed was that it was a recent recording and it was from Spartan Black's HUD. From there, they all went silent to focus their attention on the recording.

A little over an hour passed by. The video finally ended, leaving Eric, Palmer, and Lasky in a brief silence.

"That… changes things," Lasky commented, breaking the silence.


	14. Operation Paperweight Part 2

**Date: March 14th, 2559 0800 Hours**

 **Location: Kepler 186F Orbit aboard The Brigadier**

"You're telling me that they are using the brutes as a slave force? I find that hard to believe," Tyler remarked in disbelief.

"Commander Bame's exact words," Porsche simply replied as he carefully tightened the final tiny screws back to their place on his energy wakizaki.

Tyler glanced around at his teammates with an expression of doubt. "And so Admiral Lasky wants us to _join_ forces with the Jiralhanae? I did hear that correctly, right?"

Porsche paused, looked up from his weapon project, and glared at his subordinate. "If that is what Lasky wants, that is what Lasky will get. And it's our job to make sure he gets it. If you believe that his tactical assessment is flawed, then you have the right to bring your concerns through the chain of command. Understood, Eilen?"

Tyler submitted and raised his hands. "Understood, sir," he replied with an annoyed expression.

Porsche gave him a firm nod and continued to optimize his custom weapon.

The rest of the Spartans in the auditorium stood with their designated Fireteams waiting for Commander Bame and Captain Duranso to arrive to give the mission briefing. Most of the Spartans from Project Omega were distracted by the presence of Blue Team, particularly the Master Chief. The legendary Spartan towered over the rest of the Spartan-IVs, with the exception of Regendorf who was approximately the same height. Master Chief silently stood next to his teammates, patiently waiting for his two superiors to arrive, either unaware or unphased by the attention the rest of the Spartans.

After a long glance at the large green Spartan, Angel leaned over to Tyler with a cynical smile behind his visor. "So Eilen," he said, getting his leader's attention. "I heard you faced Blue Team in a Breakout match," he said while trying to keep a straight face.

The sarcastic comment also caught Scythe's attention, which made him chuckle. Tyler sharply turned his head to Angel and he glared at his teammate. "I don't want to talk about it," he quickly hissed.

Angel chuckled at Tyler's quick reply that reeked of his obvious insecurity. "Of course. I wouldn't want to talk about it if I went 0 - 4 either," he jeered.

Tyler gritted his teeth and pointed a finger at Angel. "Just like how you don't want to talk about the fact that Bennett effortlessly subdued you at the cafeteria, eh?"

The sharp retort caused both Rodriguez and Scythe to laugh at Angel. Angel's amused expression instantly dropped after his brain registered the retaliation, which was pretty effective to say the least. "Fuck you, Eilen," he sneered.

"Yeah, well fuck you too," Tyler yelled back. He couldn't fight back the urge to let out a wry smirk. It was nice to have the last laugh for once.

Porsche received word that Commander Bame was approaching the auditorium. He quickly finished up tinkering with his wakizaki and placed it on his belt. He then moved onto the stage and cleared his throat. Once he noticed the commander approaching the entrance, looked towards the Spartans and readied himself for the announcement.

"Spartans! Commander on deck." Porsche announced.

Every Spartan in the auditorium immediately stood at attention as both Captain Duranso and Commander Bame entered the room. The two officers walked towards the center of the stage and looked out to the Spartans.

"At ease, Spartans," Bame said.

The Spartans all uniformly eased their stances and focused their attention on the commander. Eric briefly glanced around at all the Spartan teams in the auditorium, observing the amount of personnel at his disposal. His glance lasted a few moments longer at the sight of Blue Team. It was difficult for him to maintain his composure since he has been waiting a very long time to fight alongside the Master Chief himself. Without further adieu, Eric decided to begin the mission briefing.

"Alright Spartans, let's get started," he began speaking as he pressed a button on his clicker, which activated a projected hologram of the planet Doisac behind him and Captain Duranso. "As you all probably already know, our next operation will be on the Jiralhanae homeworld, Doisac. Yesterday, Fireteam Ghost sent us a recording of a small Empire insurgency invading a brute stronghold. With much higher grade tech and advanced weaponry, very similar to the Promethean tech. They quickly took over the base and captured numerous amounts of Jiralhanae. They then decided to execute the stronghold's chieftain."

He turned to the hologram then pressed his clicker, zooming in on the location on the planet. "Furthermore, Fireteam Ghost was fortunate enough to expose one of the Empire's officers to us." He pressed his clicker again and a somewhat blurry photo of a man in a suit popped up on the monitor screen. "Here he is. He goes by the alias _Kronos_. He has a tamed Xenomorph by his side that looks to have a Yautja genome, which makes it an exceptionally dangerous Xeno," a photo of the strange xeno popped up next to the picture of Kronos. "In addition, this Xenomorph has no visible physical augmentations on its body which may ask us a few questions that we may not be able to answer at this time. With all of this in mind, we have absolutely no reason to believe that they wouldn't have other tamed Xenos at their disposal. So, be very wary of any Xenomorphs in this op."

"Anyways, our main objective in this op: Capture Kronos. He is a high priority target that we absolutely need alive. He very may have valuable information on the Empire. In addition, if any of you come across any other Empire officers, capture them as well. Any intel is good intel."

Eric cleared his throat and continued on. "As far as we know, there are no Empire vessels within the planet's orbit. With that being said, our first objective is to link up with Fireteam Ghost and convince the remaining Jiralhanae strongholds to join our forces." He noticed several Spartans give each other surprised looks and looks of sheer distaste. "I know this sounds absurd, but they can only help our cause. They will be fighting to keep the sovereignty of their home planet, which will give us a distinct advantage against the Empire. I strongly advise all of you to keep our history with them in the past. The last thing we need is another war with the Jiralhanae."

"Wonderful," Scythe muttered under his breath as he crossed his arms. "Now we have to fight alongside the bloody apes," he remarked sarcastically as he turned to Angel for a reaction. Angel subtly shook his head at how insane this operation was.

Eric continued on. "As far as we know, there is only a small base on the planet that the Empire occupies. Reconnaissance confirmed that it is used as a forward operating station where they transport Brutes off of the planet. The only problem is that this base is heavily fortified with technology similar to the Forerunner's. Storming the base would be more than problematic and we would have to consider that the casualties will be high. So, we must establish a relationship with one of the Brute tribes then have them help us set an ambush for the Empire. We can only hope that Kronos will be leading the incursion himself."

Eric paused and studied several of the Spartans' posture, then nodded. "Understood, Spartans?"

"Yes sir!" They all shouted in unison.

"Good. Objectives will vary as the op progresses. You're dismissed."

…

 **Date: March 14th, 2559 1600 Hours**

 **Location: Doisac, Jiralhanae Homeworld**

"Reaching the DZ in two minutes, Aries," the pelican pilot stated over the coms.

"Thanks, Delta 012," Tyler replied back. He then looked over to his team. "Alright, boys. On your feet. Time to go," he said as he placed his DMR on his back.

"Pfft, don't tell me what to do..." Angel mumbled under his breath as he threw his helmet on and grabbed his shotgun. Followed by a seemingly frustrated Scythe, who was pushing a magazine into his sniper rifle.

"What are we supposed to do? Go down there and start shaking those ape's fucking hands like we are friends? They are going to start shooting at us the moment we come into sight." Scythe groaned, obviously disliking the plan that was already set for them.

"What we are _supposed_ to do is follow the commander's orders. If we stick to the plan everything wi-"

"Rubbish fucking plan, it's going to get us bloody killed, and you know it." Scythe retorted with a sneer. Eilen could do nothing but hold in his irritation, his heart pulsed and his blood pumped, but he held it in, thankfully. Deep inside him though, something was stirring, like a volcano ready to blow. The fireteam leader just kept his mouth shut and focused on the mission, his anger slowly began to dissipate. Composure. That was what he needed.

His infuriating thoughts were interrupted when the pilot's voice echoed through his helmet. "Fireteam Aries. We're coming up to the DZ. ETA, thirty seconds."

Tyler shook off his heated emotions and focused on his duty. "Alright, form up boys," he ordered his Spartans as he placed his energy sword hilt on his thigh.

The rear door of the pelican slowly began to open up, revealing an alien savanna that resembled much like the savannas of Africa on Earth. As the pelican lowered to the ground, the members of Aries all piled out and began checking their surroundings. The pelican quickly closed its rear door and flew away from the drop zone. Tyler rose his fist then took a knee. His teammates followed suit.

Tyler activated his encrypted communication transponder on his wrist and linked up with the channel to Command on the Brigadier. "Command, this is Fireteam Aries. Do you read?"

Porsche's transponder appeared in top right hand corner of Tyler's HUD. "Loud and clear, Aries," he replied back.

"Which way is our objective, sir?" Tyler asked.

"Half a klick due west. You'll link up with Fireteam Ghost. From there, you will have to confront the brute stronghold, _peacefully_. Understood, Spartans?" Porsche ordered them sternly.

Tyler could sense the tension coming from both Angel and Scythe. Especially Scythe. "Understood Command. Aries out," he said back as he deactivated his transponder. He looked at his team for a moment and nodded. "Alright, let's get this done."

The four Spartans quickly made their way across the grassy savanna. The acacia trees and most of the flora were surprisingly similar to the ones on Earth. However, the fauna that they saw were much different, but they did act similar to the herds of fauna from Earth. Tyler wished he had a moment to observe the indigenous creatures, but his discipline made him more focused on rendezvousing with Ghost.

After a short while of running through the Savanna, the team came across a small thicket of trees and bushes. They cautiously made their way through the bushes towards their NAV point which showed that they were roughly fifty meters away from the rendezvous point. Tyler slowly led the fireteam throw the bushes until he suddenly walked into an invisible wall. Stunned by the surprising event, he raised his DMR up at the wall.

Suddenly, a large Sangheili Major materialized out of his active camouflage. Tyler let out a large breath of relief at the sight of the elite and lowered his weapon. "Jesus, man. You almost gave me a damn heart attack."

The elite huffed at his statement and began to turn around. "Come, Spartans. Your kin are waiting for you," he stated as he began walking through the brush.

Scythe glanced over to Angel with an annoyed expression behind his visor. "Brilliant. The split-chins are here too. Those apes are definitely going to welcome us with open arms now," he sarcastically muttered.

"Got that right," Angel replied flatly.

The team followed the elite through the bushes to see the four Spartans of Fireteam Ghost gathered around with the one Sangheili Spec Ops Officer discussing about something. Spartan Masy was the first to spot Aries and he waved to them.

"Oh, hey guys," he greeted them enthusiastically, which appeared pretty odd to the Spartans of Aries.

Tyler nodded to him. "Gummies," he simply replied back, remembering that he had to address the team by their callsigns.

"Glad you guys could finally join us. Pretty place, isn't it?" He said in his higher pitched voice.

Tyler raised an eyebrow and glanced at Rodriguez who was subtly laughing at the funny comment.

"I mean, I guess so," Tyler said in a confused tone. He turned his gaze to Ghost's leader. "Ghost. What's the situation?"

Spartan Black waved for him to come over to the circle. "Come here. We'll show you," he simply said.

Tyler walked over to the circle to see the Spec Ops officer holding a transparent data pad, clearly of Sangheili origin. It showed a map of the brute stronghold with several red pings marked all across the area.

"So," Black began. "What you see here is their stronghold. It's just as fortified as the last one we were at, but there are many more civilian brutes inside this one. So, let's approach them as peaceful as possible. I'd rather not get into a firefight with them."

"No argument here," Tyler rest assured. "There is one thing I'd like to know before we go in."

"What's that?" Black asked.

Tyler cautiously looked over to the Spec Ops officer. "What is your current relationship status with the Jiralhanae?" He firmly asked the elite.

The elite glanced back at him and clenched his mandibles. "Not desirable," he replied flatly.

"That's what I thought," Tyler commented. "With that being said, I don't think it would be a good idea to bring the Sangheili with us," he said in the utmost honesty.

Black looked over to the Spec Ops officer for a moment. "You're probably right, Eilen. Officer, could you and your troops remain here on standby until further notice?"

The elite shrugged, knowing it was the most practical decision. "Yes, Spartan. We will remain here. If anything were to happen, we will immediately move in to assist."

"Sounds good," Black replied. "Thank you for understanding." He then looked at Eilen and took a deep breath. "Alright. You and I will be doing all the talking. The rest of you Spartans," he said looking at the six remaining Spartans. "Just keep quiet and keep your weapons sheathed. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," they all replied, except for Angel and Scythe who remained silent and stern.

"Alright, let's get going."

…

The eight Spartans began to move toward the brute stronghold with their weapons sheathed on their backs. Every single one of them were on guard, thinking about the possible worst case scenarios. As they made their way towards the stronghold gate, there was a large echoing voice that came from the stronghold.

"Halt, you demons!" A deep voice shouted out from one of the watchtowers. "What are you doing on my homeworld again?" A brute showed himself with an odd looking Jiralhanae armament that looked similar to a Covenant Carbine, but more like a makeshift spike rifle.

Black raised his hands, hoping that the universal jester for _don't shoot_ applied to the Jiralhanae. "We come in peace. We are not here to fight. We just wish to speak with your chieftain," he shouted back at the watchtower.

"Nobody speaks to the chieftain unless I say so! What does Kronos want with us this time?" The brute questioned as he tightened his grip on his tempered spike rifle.

"We are not with Kronos. We are with the UNSC," Eilen yelled back.

"What you say is folly, filthy humans! Either way, we want nothing to do with your kind!" The brute scowled back in rage.

Eilen quickly shook his head in denial. "No! I assure you, Kronos is _not_ a part of the UNSC. We only want peace with the Jiralhanae! Not war! I'd rather keep our terrible past behind us!"

The brute sneered at Tyler's reply. "That is what Kronos promised us! Then he comes to take many of my brothers and sisters away on his stolen holy ships!"

Black waved at the brute. "We aren't just here to make peace with your kind. We are here to form an alliance to fight against Kronos and the rest of the Empire!"

The brute paused for a long moment, carefully considering his options. His teeth still gnashed together at the very sight of the humans. Thoughts of the Great War flashed through his head. The Prophets deemed them as lesser beings and that their destruction was the will of the Gods. Yet, what they were told by the Prophets were all lies. The Covenant did betray them. However, that didn't ease the extreme tension, which was an understatement, between the two species. What the humans did to them on their home planet was completely intolerable. However, these particular humans in front of him were not like the others visually.

After a long moment of pondering, he squinted his eyes and sharply turned his gaze to the brute on his left and growled. He then muttered an order in their native tongue, pointing at several positions on the wall. Many other brutes quickly made their way to the gate's levers. He then looked back to the Spartans and sneered.

"If what you say is true, then I will allow you in. But before you enter, you must drop all of your weapons!" The brute gatekeeper demandingly uttered.

Black and Eilen looked back at their teammates with a wary gaze. They then began to drop their weapons onto the ground, shocking everyone on the team.

"Is he fucking serious, mate?" Scythe cried in astonishment.

"Just do it, Scythe," Eilen simply ordered him without so much as to turning his head in the sniper's direction.

Scythe let out an anger gruff, but then began dropping his weapons. "Fucking brilliant," he muttered to himself.

"Don't worry, buddy. Nothing bad will happen," Macy assured him as he dropped his weapons.

Scythe rolled his eyes at the comment and walked up next to Eilen. "Don't make me regret this, _sir_!" He coldly spat, pointing a finger at Eilen.

With his blood now boiling after the statement, Eilen smacked Scythe's hand away from his face and bumped chests with the Spartan. "Don't you _ever_ point your damn finger at me again, Scythe! Have some fucking faith for once!"

Scythe remained silent, but kept his glare on his fireteam leader. It took every single fiber in his body to not take a swing at Eilen. His concentration was broken when the stronghold's gates began to slowly open. The eight Spartans turned towards the gates to see several brute troops wielding spiker rifles rushing over to them.

Several of the brutes began to pick up the human weapons from the ground as many others began to surround the eight Spartans. Finally, the gatekeeper made his way towards the Spartans and gave them a sneer.

"I am Decanus," he sternly announced himself to the Spartans. "I will take you to meet with Chieftain Duxus myself. Now, follow me demons," he coldly ordered them.

The other brutes growled at the Spartans, indicating them to follow Decanus. The Spartans slowly followed the brute officer. Inside the compound, the Brutes with rifles and worried looks watched the Spartans walk down into the middle of the base with their escort. The sight of these Jiralhanae felt very unfamiliar to the Spartans that were involved in The Great War, including Scythe. They weren't stomping around and causing pandemonium like the Spartans were accustomed to. The female and young Jiralhanae appeared to be frightened at the very sight of humans, with many of them cowering for cover. The males clearly were absolutely furious to see them, but they kept their distance.

Scythe felt every single pair of eyes focused on him, which began to spike up his blood pressure. He felt as if what he said outside of the gate was heard by many brutes, which immediately led him to regret his decision in lashing out like the way he did. So, Scythe kept his mind shut and focused on calming his composure, hoping that his body language would help ease the extreme tension.

Hushed voices and violent huffs left the mouths of the ape-like aliens that firmly watched them make their way through their stronghold. The tension briefly subsided when the Spartans entered a tent with a massive looking and decorated Brute sitting down on his throne and surveying a large map.

"Chieftain, I have brought you the demons" Decanus said with a slight nod of his head. Duxus, the Chieftain looked up and immediately laid his eyes on Eilen. Any tension that subsided before immediately was back.

"Hmm...thank you Decanus...which one of you humans is the leader of your war party?" The chieftain asked, now standing a few feet taller and looking over the Spartans. His fur was dark, and in contrast to the light it even made it look shiny. His eyes were a light yellow color, his tusks for teeth were somewhat worn down, and along his face there seemed to be remnants of scars and war paint. He clearly was elderly next to his kin, but undoubtedly stronger than him. His strong posture demanded loyalty from his clan.

Spartans Eilen and Black stepped forward, "We are, Chieftain" Tyler said somewhat nervously, attempting to maintain _his_ strong composure. Duxus rubbed his chin with his hand slightly and waved to the soldiers, to which they understood and all but Decanus left the tent. Eilen did the same, turning around and looking at the spartans "Wait outside, this shouldn't take long."

The two fireteams acknowledged the command and proceeded to stroll out of the tent, taking seats just outside. "Isn't this some shit," Scythe muttered to himself. "We're sittin' ducks out here and our _fearless_ leader wants us to just sit on our arse and wait," he mocked, while actively attempting to keep his tone down.

James Rodriguez, the third member of Aries looked up and shook his head, "No, everything is gonna be alright, we just...y'know, gotta chill out and let them do the talking. They're not going to put us in any danger," he quietly responded with faith.

Scythe growled and angrily looked to James the same way he did to Eilen. "You really are going believe his bullshit, huh? Damn you are stupid."

"Just relax, Scythe," Mangold replied in a calm tone. "Getting worked up over this isn't going to make things easier."

Scythe turned his attention to him with a subtly shocked expression. "I'm sorry, but who are you again?" He mocked the larger Spartan.

Mangold just giggled and shook his head at the comment, which wasn't the reaction Scythe expected or wanted. "Look buddy, we're on the same side. The last thing we need is for us to fight amongst ourselves. If you haven't noticed before," he said as he glanced around at his surroundings to make sure the brutes couldn't hear what he was about to say, "these brutes are petrified of us."

Scythe subtly took a quick gander at the surrounding brutes. He did notice this as they were walking in, but he didn't know what to think of it. He then looked back to Mangold, but said nothing.

James Mangold continued on. "If you show that you are visibly unsettled with them, that will make our objective much more difficult. We _are_ the dominant species here, so act like it. At the same time, you shouldn't show that you think lesser of them. We need their cooperation."

Scythe subtly turned his helmet away from him to ponder the random words of wisdom, something that he really wasn't expecting to hear at a time like this. He was the dominate being here. We were the ones that won the war, but that makes humanity responsible for what happens in the aftermath.

He shook his head, snapping out of his light trance. He then glanced back to Mangold but said nothing. Just gritted his teeth. He looked over to Angel to see what his body language was telling him. Angel remained standing and had his arms crossed, cautiously observing the brutes around him. He also was still on guard, but he made an effort to hide it. Although, he wasn't visibly shaken by being in the presence of the brutes. He kept his posture stern and demanding.

Scythe then glanced at one of the brute guards who was standing only fifteen meters away from the Spartans. The brute was making scuffs and growls, but he avoided eye contact with the Spartans. The same reactions applied with the other brute guards. A faint sense of superiority and a hint of security began to flow through his spine, which made him sit up straight and rectify his posture.

Maybe they were feared. There really was no reason to show fear. He took in a deep breath and began to observe the brutes around him more.

Mangold smiled behind his visor and nodded. He tapped Scythe's knee with fist. "See, everything is gonna be fine, man."

Scythe moved his gaze further away from Mangold and scuffed. "Ye, fuck off," he said out of annoyance. _Yeah, I guess you're right, you giant oaf,_ he said to himself, not letting himself compliment his teammate.

Meanwhile inside the command tent, Spartans Eilen and Black were talking with Duxus about the current situations with the new rising empire, and their "pets" they decided to adopt into their army. Both spartans had their helmets removed and laying on the briefing table. They stood across the table from the Chieftain who had a hologram of a the local region illuminating the inside of the tent. Tyler noticed that the briefing table was being powered by an old Covenant battery. The battery seemed like it was running fairly low on power.

The low-powered battery caused his mind to wonder what the rest of their supplies were like. It appeared that their advancement in technology drastically regressed since the end of the war. After pondering on whether or not he should to ask Duxus about their supply manifest, he decided that he wouldn't ask at this time because he was afraid that the question would essentially imply a sense of belittlement towards the Brutes, which certainly wouldn't be good to say the least. So, Tyler simply turned his gaze away from the Covenant battery and focused his attention on Duxus.

Duxus seemed slightly baffled at their words about the Empir. However, he kept a stoic look on his face, not looking too distressed or edgy, but the atmosphere around him definitely was heavy. His strong sense of composure greatly impressed the two Spartans. The Brute let out a deep sigh, that sounded a bit closer to a growl.

"These... _serpents_ you speak of...they are of insect origin?" he asked in a low gruff tone.

Eilen scratched the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders, trying to think of a good analogy to help the Chieftain's visualize the creatures, but he couldn't think of any since he couldn't think of a real life comparison that the brute would understand. The only being that could be a close comparison would be the Yanme'e since they operated like a hive mind and were of insect origin, but he figured that would only confuse Duxus more.

"To be completely honest with you, we don't know much about them ourselves. They share similar traits with aggressive insects, they have an exoskeleton, but they function with a hive mind with a queen being their commander, per say. Not necessarily like the Yanme'e. More like the Flood, except less...zombie-ish and serpent like."

Duxus gave the two Spartans a strange look of bewilderment. "I do not understand your human word _Zombie-ish_."

Tyler cocked his head, then lightly laughed to himself as he glanced over to Black. "Right. I guess you can call it a human adige. But yes, you know how the Flood took over our warriors' bodies, making them seem undead?"

The brute simply gave him a subtle nod.

"Yeah, well, these serpents have their own exoskeleton body that's heavily fortified. At the same time, they are a parasitic organism since they need live hosts to breed," Tyler finished.

The Chieftain was surprised to hear about such a thing existing, he stood back and ran his large hand through his braided beard. "Why should I trust you, hm? We were at war with your species for quite some time. Then just now, you show up not too long after my people were attacked by your kind."

"Being at war with someone doesn't make them your lifelong enemy," Black assured. "Our beliefs did not coincide with one another's by any means, but relations can be mended in due time. Look at the Sangheili for an example. They were at war with us, but now we are helping the Arbiter help free his homeland from the Covenant Remnant, who terrorizes Sanghelios. The Prophets lied to both of your species about a false belief which ultimately turned both of them against each other. The hatred and the bloody rivalry you shared with the Sangheili was caused by them."

Upon overhearing the word 'Sangheili', outcries of rage and aggression emanated from Decanus. However, Duxus just gritted his teeth. "I do not care about the elites no more than I care about you humans," he sneered at the two Spartans.

"But." The utter of that one word singlehandedly shocked both of the Spartans. "I do understand what you are saying." The next comment was even more astonishing.

Michael Black took a deep breath and assessed the Chieftain's body language for a moment. He clearly showed a very strong distaste for the Sangheili, but he wasn't physically shaken up by the topic alone. _This is by far the most reasonable Brute I will ever encounter,_ Michael thought to himself. He cleared his throat and continued talkin with the chieftain.

"I'm glad you do, Chieftain. As for us, we are willing to put our past aside to fight against this common threat. We know what your kind did to ours, all those atrocities. We will never forget it, but we are willing to move on from them. Essentially, we want what you want," he stated firmly. "Peace for our species."

Black paused and took another moment to observe the brute's body language. Duxus was still well composed with his arms crossed firmly, but he remained quiet, waiting for a reply.

"If we both want to achieve this goal, we need to be on the same side. We _need_ to fight together. Look, whe won't hold you at gunpoint on something like this, but I will say that we could really use your help, and your people could use our help. All we ask in return is that you assist us in capturing Kronos," Michael finished.

Duxus shook his head calmly. "We still do not need your help, humans. Atriox will soon be here to quell this human incursion."

Both Spartans were taken back by the name he mentioned. "Atriox? Who is he?" Tyler asked.

Duxus grimly smirked, revealing his large fangs as he leaned up and cross his arms. "I am not surprised that you have never heard of him," he smuggly commented. "You humans were never the only enemy to the Covenant. Your kind almost faced extinction against them, but Atriox," he laughed. "The Covenant never came close to quelling him and the Banished."

Tyler's heart dropped at the unveiling. "The _Banished_? They were the enemy of the Covenant?"

"Indeed they are," Duxus replied. "And they had many opportunities to take down the Covenant."

Tyler's mind began racing in many directions. A force stronger than the Covenant? A force that was _against_ the Covenant? Feelings of both fear and anticipation rushed throughout his body, but at the same time, a sense of opportunity filled his chest. He wondered if The Banished would be willing to also fight for their cause. The thought danced around his mind for moment.

"If he was against the Covenant, then why did he not ally with the UNSC? Have you ever heard of the saying 'The enemy of my enemy, is my friend'?" Tyler asked the chieftain.

Duxus cocked his head after hearing the quote. "I can see where you are going here, human. I'm afraid Atriox has no sympathy for humanity."

Michael Black cleared his throat and placed his hands down on the briefing table. "Diplomacy never hurt anyone. There has to be some way we both can come to an understanding. The bottom line: we have a common enemy," Black bluntly stated. Duxus remained quiet but kept his piercing glare on the Spartan.

Black continued on. "These humans that you've encountered here are _much_ more than just terrorists. They aim to genetically modify their own bodies to create a super being, and they absolutely have the opportunity to do so with those serpents in their disposal. One thing we also failed to mention before is that they also have another captive organism called the Yautja. With these two species, they will effectively gene splice them with their own bodies, creating a perfect organism. Stuff that makes the Spartan Program's physical augmentation look like a fucking physical therapy session. And they've made it crystal clear that they are leaving the UNSC and the rest of humanity behind."

Duxus raised his right eyebrow and stroked his long dark beard, processing all the information that was given to him. "So, you're telling me that these _super_ beings that were once humans are the real threat?"

"I promise you," Black assured, "that we are _not_ your enemy. These metahumans are looking to take over the galaxy, and they absolutely have the resources to do so. We _must_ work together to defeat them."

Duxus crossed his arms, then took in a deep breath. After a long moment of silence, Duxus growled and sneered at the two Spartans. "Fine," he reluctantly muttered. "I accept your help, humans."

"You have my gratitude, Chieftain," Black said not long after he let out a breath of relief.

...

Several hours passed by since the meeting between the two Spartans and the brute chieftain. Since then, Spartan Porsche arrived with a company of marines, three more Spartan Fireteams, and a small vehicle armored division that consisted of three Scorpion tanks and eight Wolverine Anti-Air Tanks with emp shells.

From there, the company of marines dispersed around the brute stronghold, creating a defensive perimeter. The three tanks guarded the entrance of the stronghold. The eight Wolverines dispersed in strategic spots around the stronghold. All of the vehicles then activated their active camouflage, thanks to the cloaking units the Sangheili provided.

Lastly, the five Spartans Fireteams, including Aries and Ghost, scattered themselves around the base. Fireteam Aries stationed themselves on the front wall. Scythe climbed up to the best sniping vantage point with Tyler just below him. Both James and Angel were on the lower level with a few marine platoons and the three reinforcing Spartan teams. Fireteam Ghost stayed within the interior part of the base. Spartan Macy took control of one of the Wolverines, which visibly aggravated the vehicle's operator. Spartans Black and Humble stayed back with Duxus. Then Mangold hopped into the turrets on one of the Scorpion tanks.

Tyler brought his hand up to his helmet and pushed down slightly to interact with the comms, "When do you think we will get to see a mantis in action?"

Spartan Macy chuckled and quickly replied, "The sooner you don't ask about it probably!"The comment brought a smile to most of the Spartan's faces.

"10-4", Tyler responded while still smiling slightly.

With everything finally set in place, Porsche nodded in approval and began walking back to the main tent. As he went inside, he glanced at the hologram at the other positions in the region. Thanks to Duxus, the other surrounding strongholds in the region agreed to ally with the UNSC. Commander Bame dispatched the remaining battle grounds to assist them and they were all fortified and ready. Blue Team remained on standby in a secure location to depart wherever the Empire decided to land.

Then suddenly, Porsche received an incoming transmission from _The Brigadier_. He listened to the message intently for a moments. His eyes widened afterwards and he glanced over to Duxus and Black. He then looked back to his wrist pad and opened his coms.

"Roger, Command. We're ready, we'll be waiting for you, Blue Team," he replied. He then took a quick breath and opened up coms to the rest of the battle groups. "Alright gents, Command just notified me of one slipspace rupture. A single ship of unknown classification just jumped into orbit and its heading rapidly towards my position. Be ready. This is our chance," he stated. "Just stick to the plan."

The plan was simple: Draw in the empire forces. Let them get comfortable, then spring the trap.

…

The sound of repulsor engines roared through the air like a jet. Tyler, several marines, and some Spartans glanced behind them and saw an updated version of a Falcon, dubbed the Eagle, swiftly flew over the stronghold, dropped four objects in mid-air, and circle back to where it came from. Tyler turned his attention to the four objects and zoomed in on them as they descended onto their position. He couldn't believe what he saw, but the very sight of it caused him to start laughing.

The four members of Blue Team dove down to the ground in unison. Once they approached the surface, they activated their thrusters which spun them upright, then decelerated their speed quickly. Finally, they landed onto the ground with sheer force with their knees and a fist dug into the soil. The four legendary Spartans lifted their heads then stood upright. They quickly glanced around the stronghold and dispersed into own positions.

The Master Chief made his way to the front wall next to the Tyler and the other marines, then aimed his assault rifle down range. Fred made his way to one of the scorpions tanks, which happened to be occupied by James Mangold, and took control of it. Kelly made her way to the other side of the gate, adjacent to the Master Chief's position. Linda then made her way to one of the back watchtowers with her trusted Nornfang.

Tyler couldn't even express the amount of excitement and stimulation that rushed right through his veins at the sight of the most breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and amazing entrance he's ever seen. He couldn't help himself fangirl. He looked at a few of the marines around him and let out an amazed breath.

"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. I can't believe that just _fuckin'_ happened," he said as he started laughing hysterically, to which the marines followed suit.

Master Chief subtly glanced over to the loosened up soldiers and his fellow Spartans. A small smirk formed across his face, certainly pleased with himself for raising the morale by just a simple entrance that the others considered extraordinary.

A glimpse of an object at the corner of his HUD caught his attention. He turned his attention to the object to find that it was a ship. It was unlike any ship he's ever seen, and he's seen his fair share in his entire service. It certainly didn't look like any UNSC or Forerunner ship that he's ever seen. It was somewhat similar to Covenant origin, but the architecture wasn't the same and it appeared to be more technologically advanced, on par with Forerunner tech. All he could gather from the sight was that it was about the size of Halcyon-Class Light Cruiser, but resembled a Covenant CCS-Class Battlecruiser.

"Eyes up," Chief announced through the coms network. "I have a visual of an unclassified vessel entering the airspace."

Porsche quickly made his way out of the tent and looked up to see the vessel hovering in the distance. He quickly opened his radio frequency and began directing the troops around him. "Armor vehicles: activate your camouflage now! Ground troops: get to cover and stay out of sight! We need to take Kronos and any other officer alive!"

Duxus then called out to his forces. "My brothers and sisters, it is time. Get to your positions. Let them into the stronghold. Be fearless, cut down your enemies, but keep Kronos alive."

Personnel from each species quickly made their way into their respective positions. Chief, Tyler, and the marines next to them quickly hid behind cover and waited for the incoming Empire troops. It was only a waiting game now.

Linda zoomed in on the vessel through the scope of Nornfang. It remained stationary in the air. Then suddenly, three smaller aircraft exited its bay and began heading towards their position. "I have a confirmed visual on three Empire dropships heading this way. They are larger than a Covenant Liche. Much larger. They seem to be carrying some armored units, I do not have a good look quite yet. Their ETA is roughly a minute."

Porsche quickly rushed into the tent and opened up his coms. "Alright gents, I want radio silence until we spring the trap. I'll make the order. Good luck gentlemen."

Tyler took in a deep breath and readied himself. It was finally time to take out some damn Empire soldiers. He turned his gaze to the Master Chief who then looked back. Chief subtly nodded to him, to which Tyler nodded back.

Sounds of alien vehicles gradually became louder and louder until it was practically on top of them. Tyler looked up to see Decanus in the watchtower growling at the sight before him. He had his spike rifle aimed down range at the incoming troops. Then suddenly they heard a voice on the other side of the wall.

"What's wrong, Decanus?" The voice said in a mocking tone. "You know the drill, open the gates," the voice nonchalantly ordered the brute.

Decanus growled and turned to look at the ambush team, focusing his gaze on the Master Chief. Then he hesitated. He took in a deep breath.

"What's the matter? Forget how to open the gate, you dumb ape?"

Decanus sharply turned his attention back, angered by the insult. "Quiet, Kronos," he muttered. Tyler, Chief, and the rest of the marines and Spartans around them all readied up. It was him. "I'll open the gate."

"Good boy," Kronos replied in his smug tone, to which Decanus scoffed angrily.

Behind the sounds of the alien engines, Tyler started to hear something hissing and shrieking. Then it started letting out a familiar clicking noise that he heard on Sanghelios. However, it sounded like it was a growl. He couldn't make out what it was.

The Brutes quickly began opening the gate, which cued the ambush party to brace themselves. Tyler was only twenty yards away from the gate's entrance. He quietly swapped withdrew his DMR onto his back and reached for his energy sword hilt. He looked over to the Master Chief who gripped his assault rifle with one hand and had a frag grenade ready to be primed in his other.

Tyler then heard the roars from the engine as they began to move towards the gate. He knew exactly what the Master Chief was going to do, so he quietly moved next to the legendary Spartan.

"I'll clear a path for you, Chief," he whispered as he jestered his sword hilt. Chief quickly nodded in acknowledgment and placed his assault rifle on his back.

Finally, the gates opened up and the Empire troops began to enter the stronghold. The Brutes moved out of the way. Tyler had visual on Kronos, then noticed the giant Xenomorph next to him which resembled a Yautja. _A Predalien_ , he thought to himself. Behind Kronos were several soldiers that were equipped with unfamiliar armor suits, a heavily fortified personnel transporter from the looks of it, and modified Scorpion tank. The tank's cannon appeared to be charged up with energy, which meant that it was an energy based cannon. The paint consisted of cyan, black, and tannish color with a large emblem of two elephants. Then Tyler realized what it was.

It was a Hannibal Scorpion tank, but that didn't make any sense to him. How did they have access to Hannibal armaments?

"Steady men," Porsche quietly ordered through the coms.

Kronos suddenly stopped in the middle of the stronghold with his pet Predalien at his side. He glanced over to the serpent with a questioning expression. "What's wrong, girl?" He calmly asked.

The Predalien quickly glanced around the entire stronghold for a moment, then caught Kronos's attention.

Suddenly, she opened up all of her mandibles in anger and roared at top of her lungs. Every Empire soldier then raised their weapons and started storming towards the brutes. The personnel transporter rear door then opened up and several large Xenomorphs exited, letting out loud screeches and cries.

"Now! Spring the trap!" Porsche yelled through the coms.

Immediately, the UNSC vehicles deactivated active camouflage and began opening fire at the Empire troops. The Spartans and marines all revealed themselves to the insurgency and began to open up.

Activating his energy sword, Tyler rushed in front of the Master Chief with his sword gripped tightly. He clubbed his body against a trooper with sheer force that sent the trooper flying several feet. Tyler then swiftly swiped his sword across, taking out three troops. The Master Chief immediately sprinted behind the Hannibal tank, where he boarded the rear radiator and forcely pulled the grill right off the metal, snapping the nuts and bolts right off the metal plating.

Before he could thrust a primed grenade into the radiator, he suddenly was flung back away from the radiator. He swiftly landed on his feet like a cat, but found himself standing against a Sangheili Xenomorph roaring back at him. The two beings reacted at the same exact time. The serpent hastily pounced after him as Chief quickly pulled his magnum, but Chief couldn't get a shot off in time and the serpent tackled him to the ground. It pinned Chief's right arm down, which had the magnum, and quickly resorted to making efforts to head bite through Chief's helmet. Chief quickly brought his left arm up and grasped the serpent by the neck, making an effort to push the serpent's head away from his. The serpent then forced his other free hand down onto Chief's helmet, adding more pressure to the helmet's integrity.

"Linda," Chief groaned through the coms channel, attempting to not lose his grip on the serpent's neck. "Little help here."

Suddenly, the top of the serpent's head exploded, launching bits of acid covered chitin everywhere. Chief shoved the dead Xenomorph off his body and grabbed the grenade. "Thanks Linda," he simply replied.

"Anytime," she replied back as she continued firing sniper rounds into the battle.

The Hannibal tank fired an energy blast at one of the Wolverines head on which completely decimated the vehicle. Several marines around the vehicle were engulfed in flames. Chief quickly made his way back to the rear of the tank, but before Chief could plunge the primed grenade into the Hannibal Scorpion's radiator, the tank fired another energy blast at one of the UNSC tanks. The energy impact caused the standard Scorpion tank to explode into many pieces.

Chief quickly primed the grenade and plunged into the radiator, then dove off the back. The grenade exploded inside the Hannibal tank's rear and caused a chain reaction of explosions ultimately demolishing the tank, killing any personnel around it. He withdrew his assault rifle and began spraying out short controlled bursts.

On the other end of the battle, Porsche fired several rounds at the Empire troops, but suddenly was shot by something that propelled him to the ground. The excruciating pain in his left shoulder made him yell out in agony. He looked over to his shoulder and noticed that there was what appeared to be glass-like material. The projectile completely penetrated through his armor's shielding system and entered into his flesh.

He quickly turned his attention to where he got shot and saw a large empire trooper running after him. Porsche scrambled for his wazaki, but when he pulled the hilt from his belt, the trooper stomped down onto his hand and pointed his energy rifle down at Porsche's face. There wasn't anything he could do.

He gently closed his eyes.

The energy rifle fired, but it wasn't over. However, his head recoiled to the right from being impacted by the energy project. The glass-like projectile ruptured right through his helmet and the melted metal started leaking onto his cheek. The contact between melted metal and his the side of shit cheek caused him to yell out in agony. Realizing his right hand was free, he immediately removed his Venator helmet and tossed it away from him.

He quickly looked up and saw Spartan Black in a one-on-one fight with the large trooper, but it was clear that Black was being overpowered. The trooper thrusted his fisted into Black's gut which knocked the wind right out of his lungs and dropped him to his knees. The trooper then forcefully drop-kicked him down to the ground. He then began to reach down for his energy rifle.

With what strength Porsche had left in his body, he grasped his wazaki and began charging for the trooper. But it was too late. The trooper fired a projectile right through Black's chestplate, burning a hole through his sternum. The amount of shock, guilt, and hatred that flew through Porsche's spine made him forget about all the pain in his left shoulder. With every ounce of hate spent through his rush of adrenaline, he collided right into the trooper's back which sent him flying several feet in front of him, landing on his face.

With all the rage that boiled through his body, he forcefully stomped down onto the trooper's back. He gnashed his teeth together as he lifted the trooper's head up from the ground. Then in a swift and fluid movement, Porsche swiped his wazaki across the trooper's neck, severing it clean off. Porsche then tossed the severed head aside and quickly rushed back to Spartan Black.

Black coughed up blood profusely, desperately gasping for air. Porsche withdrew his wazaki and began pulling Black into the briefing tent. He then lifted Black up and laid him down onto the briefing table. After a quick glance of his wound, Porsche found that he was running out of ideas.

"Stay with me, Black! You hear me? Don't you.." he voice trailed off as he watched the life fade from Black's eyes. He was gone.

More rage shook through his body. "F...FUCK!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

He stormed out of the tent with his wazaki gripped tightly. At his feet, he found Black's dark and charred up Recruit variant helmet. He quickly grabbed the helmet and placed it over his head. The HUD settings quickly rebooted and his armor's shield systems were back to being fully operational. Then with every inch of determination and hatred, he began to effortlessly cut down Empire troopers and Xenomorphs alike.

Scythe fired his last sniper round in the watchtower at an unfortunate Xenomorph. In an instant, he threw his empty sniper aside and jumped down from the tower. As he landed, he drew his SMG and he charged through the battlefield, mowing down any enemies that he came across. As his clip was reaching its end, he swiftly slid behind cover and reached for another clip.

Suddenly, the concrete cover shattered next to him and he quickly found himself tightly groped by a large alien hand. He looked up to see the Predalien roar that was absolutely deafening. The Predalien then flung him out from cover, away from the gunfight and then thrashed towards him. Scythe quickly made it to his feet, slapped another magazine into his SMG, and sprayed at the incoming Xenomorph. The Predalien just raised her arm over its face as the horde of lead ricocheting off his strong chitin, never losing an inch.

Scythe's eyes widened. "Shit."

He dropped his SMG and drew his combat knife. The Predalien picked up that pace and reached for Scythe's neck. Before the serpent could grab ahold of him, she was hit by a large spray of pellets. Scythe looked to his left to see Angel firing off shells from his shotgun at the Xenomorph, which was opening wounds across its body. The aggravated Xenomorph roared with all of her mandibles fully extended. Angel tossed his empty shotgun away and pulled out his serrated combat knife.

The two Spartans then charged after the large serpent in unison. The Predalien whipped her tail after either Spartan, but each of them dodged the attack. She then forcefully swiped her arm forcefully just as Scythe was thrusting at her. He didn't have enough time to dodge and the impact propelled him back a few feet. Angel managed to plunge his blade right through the tough chitin on her chest.

The Predalien screeched in pain, but then immediately grappled Angel by the neck and brought him up. Angel quickly pulled out a plasma grenade, but the Predalien smacked it out of his hands and tightly grasped him with both hands, revealing her inner jaw. Scythe took the opportunity to dive for the plasma grenade. He dodged her tail, caught plasma grenade, primed it and stuck it onto her back. Before the plasma grenade ignited, the Predalien ejected her inner jaw at Angel's helmet. He instinctively moved his helmet to the right, but the headbite scrapped across the side of his helmet.

Then the grenade exploded. The shockwave from the blast flung Angel away from the Predalien. The Predalien's lower half was completely severed off from the rest of her body. She screeched in agony until her head went limp and lifeless. Angel got up to his feet, dusted himself off, and grabbed his shotgun. As he loaded more shells into shotgun, he looked over to Scythe and chuckled.

"She better not have scratched my paint," he nonchalantly commented.

Scythe noticed the large and obvious gash across Angel's helmet and began laughing along. "Can't notice a difference," he replied.

As the two Spartans made their way back to the battle, they noticed all of the devastation, but the gunfire was over. There were bodies everywhere. Human, brute, Xenomorph. Everywhere. There was only one Scorpion tank and three Wolverines left. The rest were giant piles of burning metal. Thankfully, all three of the dropships were destroyed along with whatever vehicles they had left. Scythe noticed several dead Spartans around the stronghold. This was a terrible battle.

At the center of the stronghold, they saw Kronos and his troops with their weapons down. The remaining Spartans from Blue Team, Spartans Macy, Mangold, Eilen, and Rodriguez all had the Empire troops at gunpoint. Kronos didn't seem fazed one bit.

Porsche noticed the smug grin across his face and marched towards him with his wazaki gripped tightly. "You wipe that grin off of your face or I'll _cut it off_ ," he grimly ordered pointing his wazaki at the man's face.

"Sure, Porsche. I'm sure you will," he smugly replied.

"You know me?" Porsche questioned firmly.

"Oh, how can I not? You were on Sanghelios. We know who you all are very well. Maybe too much," Kronos simply replied.

Porsche remained silent at his comment, despite his pure desire to shove a grenade down his throat. Then suddenly received a transmission from command. After listening to it, he looked up at the sky to the Empire ship.

"Maybe this will ruin your day," he bluntly stated.

Kronos as well as everyone else looked up to the Empire ship. Suddenly, a Sangheili Supercarrier materialized out of active camouflage directly over it. The supercarrier's glassing beam flared up, then shot directly through the Empire ship. The ship detonated exposing an blast as bright as the sun and a deafening sound that shook the ground.

Porsche then lowered his gaze back to Kronos. "We got you, you son of a bitch," he said.

Kronos only remained quiet. After calmly observing the destruction of his ship, he directed his attention back to Porsche. Then a subtle smirk curved at the edge of his lips.

* * *

 **Sorry it's been a long time since I've updated this story! I think I'll be able to update this story more often with my upcoming work schedule. Also, I changed around some character names, so don't be alarm. Please go review chapters 11-13. Anyways, thanks for being loyal to the story! Please leave a review if you get the chance! Thanks!**


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